Afro-Brazilian architecture, also called Afro-Brazilian-Yoruba architecture refers to an architectural style pioneered by repatriated or returned former Yoruba slaves majorly from Brazil to the western coast of Africa. Majority of them settled in the coastal cities of Port Novo and Lagos, while a few made their way further inland to their former homes in Abeokuta and Ibadan, (should be noted that some also settled in today’s Togo and Ghana). Many of the repatriated Africans from Brazil had previously worked in the building trade and were renowned skilled carpenters and masons.
The repatriated Afro-Brazilians were often called Amaros (together with those from Cuba) and later on also given the term Agudas. By the mid-late 1800′s, it is said that the Amaros made up about 9% of the then general population of Lagos, and their influence extended beyond their numbers especially in architecture. Afro-Brazilian architecture is usually characterized by its similarities to buildings found in Brazilian cities such as Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, it also includes European gothic and baroque elements.
Through the 19th century and into the 20th century, Afro-Brazilian architecture gradually changed the architectural landscape in Yorubaland. Traditional Yoruba architecture can be described as “a one story building, nestled within a compound setting around similar houses, which surrounded by a common courtyard.”
[ Figure1. Typical Plans for Traditional Yoruba Houses. A. An urban compound with a central courtyard. Built in 1933 by the Aronmaye family, Ife. B. Rural village houses. The three buildings to the left were built by Josuah Obua between 1956 and 1969. The two houses to the right were built by Amusa Olaoseji in 1966. These two farming compounds are located in Aroko, 12 miles southeast of Ife. Drawing by John Vlach. (Note that the scale, unless otherwise indicated, is in feet.)]
The Afro-Brazilian or Aguda architectural design “usually consisted of a two story house (ile petesi) with elaborate trimmings along the edge of the roof around the windows. Rooms in the house were planned around a central hallway, with a door in the front and in the rear of the house. A series of rooms were situated on both sides of the hallway: the first, usually receiving room for guests; the rest were bedrooms or rooms used for some other purpose.”
[Figure 9. Plan of a Two-Story Brazillian House. Built by S.J. Olayinka in Ife, 1929. Drawing by John Vlach.]
An “Aguda” Yoruba-Brazilian home, by legendary Nigerian photographer Okhai Ojeikere. Here is what is called a typical 19th century Afro-Brazilian house, which generally consisted of “two building types: a Sobrado, a building two stories tall, two rooms wide and three rooms deep; and a terreo, the same plan built to only one story in height.”
Other architectural movements present in Yorubaland in the 19th century was that of the British-Europeans, which wasn’t very popular among the local people, Vlach says: “These Europeans, it appears sought to impress Africans with the grandeur of their architecture which in turn they hoped would help impress the “natives” with the superiority of the European political, economic, and moral order.” Vlach continues that British architecture wasn’t readily accepted by the local people because it was directly linked to colonial domination and also not fancy enough. Therefore, the Afro-Brazilian house was adopted.
The other is what is called the Anglo-Creole architecture or in Yoruba Ile-alapako (due to its use of planks), which refers to buildings built by the Saros or Creoles (Repatriated Africans either from Sierra Leone or by way of Sierra Leone). Anglo-Creole architecture has however not had the lasting impact on local building practices as that of the of the Afro-Brazilians. By the 1930′s and 40′s Afro-Brazilian architecture had become part of the cultural and artistic landscape in Yorubaland for almost a century. “Thus even if the Brazilian house had ecological shortcomings such as internal rooms without adequate ventilation, it was sociological, politically and aesthetically appropriate. Positioned midway between the European and African worlds, houses of the Afro-Brazilian were a good choice on cultural grounds to a native people moving into that middle ground.”
Ebun House, Lagos, Nigeria. Built in 1913 and demolished in 1987. Home of A.W.U Thomas, a Sierra Leonean immigrant. Possibly built by Joao Baptista da Costa, an Afro-Brazilian immigrant master-mason. Source: Pierre Verger.
Sources: Here, Here, and Here.
