unlike in most of the West, insecurity prevails in naija, making it the focus of the designers of their building over there, making them look drab like private jail houses!!

Some of these nigerians writing nonsense about our Architecture dont even know what they are writing, yes they are lucky living in whiteman land so therefor they can write any shit they feel like.

most of them are living in bad area over there, county houses, food stamp, dirty jobs and the list goes on.

Would like to see edgy designs and construction whilst maintaining structural integrity

with other factors considered i.e climate et al

New Government's mass housing project should try to emulate new designs

not just the obligatory pako,burglary proof bars,big ass iron gate and all

Scourge of malaria makes mosquito net a necessary evil until its eradicated

Most inspiring houses I'd come across is owned by the wealthy

Bits of green round the house livens a home  too IMO

Now interior design is another different story

Pafuri:

Why is Nigeria so unlnspiring? That is what I want to know.

Uninspiring entails a whole lot,not just structure.First of all people have to understand the meaning of a communities,villages,towns and cities before they can grasp the meaning of environmental planning and architectural designs.

Nigerians build houses just for shelter not to make constructive and creative statements,just like every other thing they do in nigeria,doing things because others are doing it not because they understand what it is all about.

Nigerians need to go back to basics and try to understand simple but complex structures like termite mounds,bee hives,spider webs and even rabbit holes,then maybe they will begin to grasp the meaning and purposes of architectures.

one possible reason

a lot of building in nigeria are designed by drafters moonlighting as architects

nigerians do not want to pay money and they have misconceptions about the costs of design work

"wetin, i should pay all this money for a simple drawing"

i know of a case in which a bank's project unit outsourced design to a drafter in my old office.

so what happens in cases like this - the drafter recycles an old drawing

end of .

Looks like an opportunity for Architecture, Landscape, and Construction Engineering students. Clearly there is a desire for more diversity in the landscape. The most exciting (and challenging) thing about this profession is the marriage of aesthetics and function of something so permanent.

As Najia's middle and upper classes expand the demand for more efficient and elaborate housing will sky rocket. Hopefully the creative among us will find a way to meet it because its going to be something fantastic to witness. I would like to see structures that are inspired by precolonial architecture. Whats the point of having a proud history if it can't reflected in every facet of society?

What about water elements?

Nigerians are like walking zombies,everything they do,they do it steeped in fundamental ignorance.It is time we look into mud and thatch  buildings and innovate our ancestral heritage that seems quite suitable for nigerian enviroment,instead building coffins and bunkers in the name homes.

Safety comes first in Naija.

$tunna:

unlike in most of the West, insecurity prevails in naija, making it the focus of the designers of their building over there, making them look drab like private jail houses!!

i believe insecurity is just as bad in south africa and influences design there .

one thing i know very few houses in nigeria have any architectural input.

Ileke-Idi,

Can we pls see a pic of your papa's house in Naija? You just dey here dey run your mouth like person wey get diarrhea for mouth.

Rubbish. Which one have you built? Which one have you designed? Which one your papa don build? Which one your mother don build? Which house you don design? Abeg. Only low lifers speak like these. Whether na architecture you go chop? Person save money, build house, live there, you come dey talk ras about uninspiring bull c ra p.

Whats wrong with these Nigerians?

Most of you who talk here have friends and mates who have built there own house while you live abroad in wooden structures called houses and you have the mouths to deride houses built in Nigeria? This must be a case of idleness.

How many Nigerian houses have u seen? You take the ones that fits your argument and use it to conclude wrongly about one useless topic.

I must send this thread to the Nigerian Institute of Architects.

Rubbish.

Let fire catch any of those board houses you live in abroad thats when you will shut up.

LOL.

Setting aside poor design, grills and mosquito netting - those things don't bother me as they reflect the society in which we live.  My biggest problem is that too many houses in Nigeria are built badly, like a three-year old's drawing.  The architecture/drafters work may not be anything to write home about, but the carpenters and builders themselves are equally bad.

I'm sure people who do these buildings don't own a spirit-level, much less a plumbline.  I have seen uneven window sills, door frames, doors that haven't been sanded properly with paint dashed on any how, bad flooring, huge gaps in roofs and panels, the list goes on.  So inasmuch as you can look as the "design", I tend to look at the smaller things as part of the whole.

With regards to building materials, anyone ever considered limestone or clay bricks?  I have been in a clay brick building and it was interesting.  Limestone buildings are not only beautiful but far better than cement bricks, but then I have a bias towards limestone.  Limestone and volcanic rock wears better over time.

Its not just the style of the  housing alone, in nigeria most of our cities are dead in a ton planning sense, the city center in nigeria always looks disjointed there seems to be a lack of synergy in the ay different buildings relate to each other. There is always a roadwith no pavement what so ever boardered by Open drains(I never undrstood this concept). The buildings on the side of the road are either right up against the road making it crowded or to far from the road  creating a space for litter to accumalate. Furthermore why must there be a fence between every building? The cities would look so much better if there were shop terrises in ros rather than the disjointedness of individual buildings boardered by a cold fence. Nigerian architects, city planners and city planners have a lot of work to do if we are to catch up with the rest of the world.

Jbenue:

Its not just the style of the housing alone, in nigeria most of our cities are dead in a ton planning sense, the city center in nigeria always looks disjointed there seems to be a lack of synergy in the ay different buildings relate to each other. There is always a roadwith no pavement what so ever boardered by Open drains(I never undrstood this concept). The buildings on the side of the road are either right up against the road making it crowded or to far from the road creating a space for litter to accumalate. Furthermore why must there be a fence between every building? The cities would look so much better if there were shop terrises in ros rather than the disjointedness of individual buildings boardered by a cold fence. Nigerian architects, city planners and city planners have a lot of work to do if we are to catch up with the rest of the world.

you keep going on about catching up with the rest of the world.Have you factored security into the equation?Those fences are erected to do the job of the police,sad but true

Nigeria is not a country that invest in research, we are not even good at copying designs from other country. we only learn from the text books that are made for Africans.

Oh I remember going into a hotel under construction in Abuja in 2004, even though it was not completed I could see that this was an opulent hotel in the making, The owner was a family friend and he kindly gave us a tour, I was impressed with every thing I saw, Then he wanted to show us the swimming pool he was planning to build for this 6 storey beauty, when we got outside we ere greeted by a rectangular tiled hole in the ground. At that point we met the chief architect for the project he was German i think, immediately he saw his employer he began pleading with him to allow him change the design of the pool into a more flowing and curved piece with maybe a pool side bar ajacent but the owner would not budge he was satisfied with a rectangle in the ground, that was to be the pool for this opulent hotel. My point is that bad architectural sense is intransigent in the Nigerian it must be a cultural thing I dint know whether he thought the new proposed design by the passionate German architect was a cost burden or whether he genuinely thought his own design was better but that is the attitude of the Nigerian.

PS What happened to the Millennium Tower(Tallest building In Nigeria)? Is that still Under Construction?

Totally agree with Ezeuche,

I think it is far better to biuld on our already existing traditional architectural set up. From Kano to Imo through Ogun, the cultural impressions this type of biuldings will create in the minds of people seeing them for the first time will be rich. All we have to do is to start modernizing them. In doing so, relevant faculties in Nigerias universities should do more research on ways to modernize these designs while maintianing the core originality. There will be foreign achitects with diverse backgrounds who may want to add their perculiar ideas, that should be welcomed. To say that nothing modern can come out of our traditional designs is fattaly wrong. We dont have to be so cynical. The Asians/Chinese/Japanese/Arabs do encourage designs with a lot of local cultural imputs. This should not mean that we should turn our backs on western designs, rather it entails making African designs the core of our housing achitecture. Untill you see the beuty of a neighbourhood full of modernized "mud huts" in any given Nigerian city, you may find it hard to buy into this idea.

one day when we don belleful nigeria will contribute to world architecture .we have a creative side but good architecture in contrast to mere functional building requires generous patronage to be original .other constraints are appropriate materials/technology and craft.e.g. deckings the way we do it tend to trap a lot of heat but nothing changes we still do it the same  way.i believe it is possible to construct an edifice that is uniquely nigerian collaborating with nigerian artists /scuptor/historians but you must have deep pockets.

for every day people we need to move away from the tyranny of cement importers and explore local options for building materials which are imported,expensive and usually low quality we must be able to build homes from  locally available materials

There are no standards here, and anybody can build what he likes anywhere. The building plan approval authorities are dead on this one. No estates for general housing. The private, personal abi individual sector is in charge.

On the contrary, I have seen many beautiful and inspiring buildings all over 9ja. The only country in which you would find all types of architecture inspiring is Utopia. The topic is too generalized.

I think the poster of this thread got it all wrong, i wont agree to that statement,If you say nigerian architecture in uninspiring,the first question i will throw at you is that those structures in lekki,are they not in nigeria or do you categories them too as uninspiring,if you answer in affirmative then i wont have any choice than to conclude that you are ignorant of the issue at hand.Let me add this to my post,Nigeria has great architect and they have done great designs in the past and are still doing it.The problem is that of the situation the country is currently facing.Poverty is the cause of all these.It is poverty makes people prefer to do things without following the laid down rules and standard, I'm a professional builder and i'm well learned in the construction industry and i know that problems are.

Ileke-IdI:

Safety comes first in Naija.

Safety!!How can there be safety in a country that runs on outright injustices?

The guilty are afraid.It is only a guilty person that is scared.

I don't agree with the topic.

Is there ANYTHING in Nigeria that is inspiring