sjeezy8:

eko(Lagos island) is historical but I like benin city more.

That being said I think the first building in Nigeria would probably be in the North due to the arab influenced culture.

The Arabs/Muslims were light years ahead of everyone in many ways- No lie

^^bros, check arab architecture for any evidence of storey buildings.

the north is araboid, not so?


the scholars of olden days were actually way more intelligent and educated [in the real sense] than what obtains today where every typist claims to have a phd.

they also did more legwork and actually knew what they were talking about, unlike 99% of most people here.

EzeUche:

I agree with you ROSSIKE.

Africa was thriving while the British were still painting their faces blue.

Apparently, not all of Africa was thriving.

oldest mosque in africa- the great mosque of Jenne, Mali:

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the most popular attraction of Djenne, and the largest and most wonderful mud brick construction of ancient times. This mosque is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences.

The first mosque on this site was built in the 13th century and the current structure was built in the year 1907.

http://www.addictedtotravel.com/travel-guides/attractions/the-great-mosque-of-djenne_mali

Half of the mosque is covered by a roof and the other half is an open air prayer hall or courtyard. The roof of the mosque is supported by ninety wooden pillars that span the interior prayer hall. Vents in the roof are topped with removable ceramic caps, which when removed allow hot air to rise out of the building and so ventilate the interior. A second prayer hall is enclosed in a courtyard behind the roofed mosque and is surrounded by walls to the north, south, and west and by the mosque itself to the east. An arcade inside the surrounding walls encircles the courtyard. The walls of the arcade facing the courtyard are punctuated by arched openings, 15 m (45 ft) high, that allow viewing or entry into the courtyard from the arcade.

Water damage, in particular flooding, was a major concern of Traoré when he planned the construction. The annual flooding of the Bani River causes Djenné to become an island, and unusually high floods can inundate parts of the city. The Great Mosque was constructed on a raised platform with a surface area of 5625 m² (62,500 ft²), which has so far protected the mosque from even the most severe floods.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/mali/great-mosque-of-djenne.htm


i'm still waiting for PHOTOS and links to actual storey buildings in nigeria before 1854, but of course i know it's easier to rain insults when you cant back up your claims with facts!

bgees:

Apparently, not all of Africa was thriving.

Why do you say that?

@Rossike


Even if that wasn't the first storey building in Nigeria, the person who put that sign up ought to be ashamed of themselves as does the local government responsible for that area. Com'on if you are going to make claim like that and go as far as to promote the house as the first by putting up a sign then at least have the decency to fix the house up and make it presentable to potential visitors.

The link below shows the the oldest (1600) surviving house made of timber frame in America. Look how well presented it is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fairbanks_house_dedham.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbanks_House_%28Dedham,_Massachusetts%29

the house should be better preserved, true.

tpiah:

^^DUMBO, THE BUILDINGS YOU SHOWED WERE BUILT BEFORE 1854 BAH?


cheii!!!for nigerians!!!!

some of you are too daft for words!!!

legendary daftness which has to be seen on nairaland to be believed!!!

abeg- you're waaayyyy out of your element so scram instead of embarassing yourself further!

your primary school teacher did a bad job with you!

My point is to school you to the difference between A storey building and a minaret. i am glad you listen. Thank me l8r.
I never raise any issue on date.

tpiah:

------, do you know the difference between a minaret and a storey building?

do you even know know the meaning of architecture at all? ------

Jon.Bee link=topic=468708.msg6285416#msg6285416 date=1277542836:

@Tpiah


Kano

Tpiah, for your education, this is a minaret(below). repeat after me

How smart of you to shift the "goal post" and pretended you never refer to those storey building as Minaret.
Superdaft Olodo No. 1. now, who's your daddy??!

sjeezy said:

eko(Lagos island) is historical but I like benin city more.

That being said I think the first building in Nigeria would probably be in the North due to the arab influenced culture.

The Arabs/Muslims were light years ahead of everyone in many ways- No lie

This ''Arab influenced'' stuff is just silly. I guess the houses we live in today are not Nigerian houses, but ''English influenced houses'', and ''American influenced houses''.

Such qualifications of course would be silly since modern Nigerian houses look substantively different from European or US homes, having their own unique cocktail/combination of modern Nigerian, and international aesthetics.

Just like ancient Hausa architecture did in its day.

Fact is, Hausa architecture subscribed to the regional conventions of its day, and like every other people in long term contact with the outside world, they drew aesthetic inspiration from local and surrounding styles and conventions over several centuries.

So, those homes are examples of ancient HAUSA architecture.

They do not look like Arab homes any more than my flat in Ikeja looks like a flat in Peckham, London. The materials used are different. The designs show far more curvature than traditional Arab residences.

So you need to appreciate the architectural tradition of the Hausa on its own merit.

Just as you would expect future 26th century archaeologists excavating our current homes to recognise them as examples of 21st century Nigerian architecture, rather than ''21st century English, American-influenced Nigerian architecture''.

Jon.Bee:

My point is to school you to the difference between A storey building and a minaret. i am glad you listen. Thank me l8r.
I never raise any issue on date.

How smart of you to shift the "goal post" and pretended you never refer to those storey building as Minaret.
Superdaft Olodo No. 1. now, who's your daddy??!

you do seem very daft and immature and i dont really want to waste my time with you.

however, go back very carefully, reread my post, and if you still dont get it, blame your primary school teachers for not helping you with your english grammer.

I guess the houses we live in today are not Nigerian houses, but ''English influenced houses'', and ''American influenced houses''.

where does one even start from, with you lot.


see another zinger:

Just like ancient Hausa architecture did in its day.

Fact is, Hausa architecture was conventional in the region at the time for several millenia, and like every other people in long term contact with the outside world, drew aesthetic inspiration from local and surrounding styles and conventions over several centuries.

So, those homes are examples of ancient HAUSA architecture

i dont even know where to start from with you people, so let me allow you to keep zigzagging all over the place until you're tired.

[size=14pt]That Huasa Building is inspiring, this are the kind of buildings that should be mordernised with all mod cons, Oyinbo will respect US all if we embrace our indigenous archietetures. Perharps we should learn from Gadaffi who embrace his desert tent heritage, that archietecture is more rudimentary when compared with what we have in Kano State. Nigerians should proud of this unique archieteture.[/size]

tpiah:

you do seem very daft and immature and i dont really want to waste my time with you.

however, go back very carefully, reread my post, and if you still dont get it, blame your primary school teachers for not helping you with your english grammer.

Sorry dude but i gotta say this to you "You are crooked, " . So dubious of you to keep turning & twisting the obvious,  All you need to say is Oops! i thought it was minaret, then you wont have to lie and displaying your ignorance around your ignorance  .

So RATTERTY it seems that you are what is know as a "slowpoke" . Gee, who'd 've guessed ? Not me .
Now run along and have a nice hate filled day ,ya' little bigot .

You lost on this one tpaih

^^and you are?

i dont deal with cowards who hide behind various user ids because they know they function with little cognition.

so, scram.

and, for the record, storey building refers to a building where the upper floors are continuously occupied by people? As in, place of residence.

i dont know why some of you people insist on remaining d.aft.

why not stay in sexuality section where they discuss things better suited to your understanding.

brainwork isnt your forte.

No.

Igbo houses from before the 20th century:







There is no known "first story building" in Nigeria.

More here: https://www.nairaland.com/1005808/igbo-traditional-architecture-%E1%BB%A5l%E1%BB%8D-nke

There is actually an 1841 drawing from the British traveler/explorer William Allen of a two story building in the Attah of Igala's place of residence in the city of Idah.


@ Ezeagu, what are the dates on that building?

ezeagu: No.

Igbo houses from before the 20th century:







There is no known "first story building" in Nigeria.

More here: https://www.nairaland.com/1005808/igbo-traditional-architecture-%E1%BB%A5l%E1%BB%8D-nke

Thanks for this ezeagu. Great stuff.

tpiah: i'm still waiting for PHOTOS and links to actual storey buildings in nigeria before 1854,

Not a photo, (photography had only been recently invented 20 years earlier) but a decent drawing from a British guy that visited Idah in 1841:

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/Allen03.JPG[/img]

"Court of King of Iddah [Idah], Central Nigeria, 1841

Source
William Allen, A Narrative of the Expedition sent by Her Majesty's Government to the River Niger, in 1841 (London, 1848), vol. 1, p. 293. (Copy in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)

Comments
Caption, "The Court of the King of Iddah". Shows king in center, under umbrella; slit-gong drum in lower left. Iddah/Idah, a port on the Niger river, south of the Niger-Benue confluence in present-day south central Nigeria, was the "largest and the most important town in the Kingdom of Eggarah [Igara/Igala]". It was a major trading area for slaves taken to the Niger Delta and the Bight of Biafra. In this illustration, the king is "seen on a throne, formed of a bamboo frame, covered with mats and carpets . . . . He was almost smothered by his garments, and surrounded by attendants, who were fanning him vehemently . . . .The principal courtiers were seated close round the throne, with their backs towards it, excepting a large party [of Muslims]... these sat facing the king" (Allen, pp. 293-94, 318)."

PhysicsQED: There is actually an 1841 drawing from the British traveler/explorer William Allen of a two story building in the Attah of Igala's place of residence in the city of Idah.


@ Ezeagu, what are the dates on that building?

The source didn't say but the book is from the traditional archaeology of Nigeria researched in the 1960s. The first building is from what is now Abia State.

Without that slave trade, God knows how much this continent would have advanced, honestly.

A STOREY BUILDING INDEED!

There was no Nigeria in 1845. So it is wrong to label it the first storey building in Nigeria.

....and to those making reference to Nigeria as an ancient land, no it is not.

tpiah: post solid evidence of storey buildings with STAIRCASES in nigeria before 1845, instead of engaging in conjecture.

Hugh Clapperton wrote this while in Kano.

My house had six chambers above, extremely
dark, and five rooms below, with a dismal-looking
entrance or lobby, a back-court, draw-well, and
other conveniences. Little holes or windows ad-
mitted a glimmering light into the apartments.

-Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa: In the Years 1822, 1823 And 1824

Nice thread...