The Beginnings of African American Architecture: Part 1

This series focuses on the origins of African American architecture, commencing with the arrival of captive Africans arriving on the shores of north America in the early 1600's. The articles, publications and videos referenced in this series speak of African architectural practices that were brought with them and used to build the houses in which they lived on the plantations. The articles go further on to speak of how some African architectural features became part of American architecture - in ways that could be described today as cultural appropriation. Many will not realize that design features such as the front porch and verandas are elements that came from west Africa.

In this first series, we will share a few publications on African American architecture written by various authors. Trust me, they are incredible volumes of knowledge. Listed below is a quick summary on this posts content.

1. Precedents in African American Architecture:

This is a thesis written by Lawrence Sass and submitted to the Department of Architecture (MIT) on May 6/1994.

The Old African Meeting House - used as an ice house and prison for slaves at Melrose Plantation Parish, Louisiana 1800 (Vlach 1993)

According to Lawrence; as a sub-sets of American culture, African Americans have not been able to offer culturally specific architectural elements to the design process because the history of African American form and space has not been recognized within academia.

In this thesis, Lawrence attempted to fill the gaps in the African American history of form and space. He did so by producing computational models of African American architecture and spatial planning from four key periods of American history:

(i) the African Plantations (1619-1793),

(ii) the American plantations (1793-1865),

(iii) the African American gardens (1619-present),

(iv) the Middle Passage Monument (1993).

These architectural elements can play an integral role in designing for African American communities in the future. To demonstrate this point, Lawrence used these African American architectural elements in designing housing units in Harlem. In my conclusion, he presented ideas and goals for future research in African American architecture and spatial planning.... Read full thesis.

2. From Slave Cabins to “Shotguns”: Perceptions on Africanisms in American Architecture

A graduate student in Historical Administration at Eastern Illinois, James Draper wrote this essay for Dr. Nora Small’s American Architecture class in the fall of 2000.

A typical Shotgun House.

Too often our view of architecture is focused solely on the unique monumental structures designed in large part to display the wealth and power of the elite... while the greatest part of the built environment—the houses that most people live in goes unnoticed. —John Michael Vlach.

The transportation of African slaves to the New World from colonial to antebellum periods had a profound affect on the creation of not only a distinctive African-American culture, but also on the formulation of the dominant American culture in North America. Many African cultural traits, or “Africanisms,” that traversed the Atlantic Ocean with the slaves have influenced our culture over time through music, dance, language, folk crafts, and architecture.

This essay examines the varying opinions and arguments presented by historians, architectural historians, ethnographers, and folklorists on the topic of African contributions to architecture in the United States. It briefly discusses theories from the first half of the twentieth century that revolved around the transference of African cultural traits to the United States through the slave trade, or lack of it. Then, with the “new social history” during the 1960s, focusing on theories involving possible Africanisms in building materials (including construction techniques) and overall form.

Finally, this essay discusses how historians and folklorists have interpreted the Shotgun House, with an emphasis on the works of John Michael Vlach and the use of the Shotgun as a symbol, or icon, of African-American culture... Read full essay.

Additional Resources:

- Interpreting Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites
- The Slave Dwelling Project
- Saving Slave Houses
- The University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group

- Behind The Big House

- Slave Housing in Virginia

- African American Architecture: A Hidden Heritage

Thank you and let us know if you find this read interesting in the comment section below.