INTRODUCTION 1. Meru County in Kenya

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1 1 Meru County in Kenya Introduction: Vernacular buildings are human constructs that result from interrelations between ecological, economic, material, political and social factors. Given that the changing nature of these factors and the interrelations between them, it is unrealistic to consider an optimal sustainable state or condition of vernacular buildings or larger human settlement. Instead, it is more appropriate to discuss ways and means of sustaining heritage in constantly changing human biomes. The Meru community is a sub group of the highland Bantu living (but not limited to) on the eastern and northern slopes of the Mount Kenya, in the current Meru and Chuka counties in the republic of Kenya. The Meru community has nine sub dialects namely Imenti, Tigania, Miutuni, Igoji, Igembe, Mwimbi, Muthambi, Chuka and Tharaka. Meru region consists of approximately 13000km² stretching from River Thuci in the South which is the traditional boundary between the Meru and Embu people to Isiolo district in the north. However the northern border is not as clearly defined as the southern border. Throughout the sub-dialects, the built forms, social, cultural, religious and economical activities are the same with variance being brought about by the varying climatic conditions. Often billed as Africa s first truly democratic society, the Ameru are traditionally governed by an elected council of elders, from clan level right up to the supreme arbiters the Njuri Ncheke.The council is the only traditional judicial system recognized by the Kenyan state and is still powerful when it comes to political decision making amongst the Meru. The vernacular architecture of Meru people has evolved over time due to various internal and influences external influences. These influences include population growth, availability of new building materials and technology, formal education, land demarcation and fragmentation. These influences have led to a private home setting as opposed to the extended family clusters which were the main characteristic of closely related households, from an individual, his wife (wives) houses the Kiuru his sons houses, the married sons households and his married grandchildren household. Nearby would be his brother s households to first-class cousins etc. making the whole clan. 1

2 2 It is this setup the author is going to investigate in terms of the built forms layout, materials and hierarchical kinship arrangement to deduce lessons which can be borrowed from the Meru vernacular architecture into the contemporary architecture. Njuri Ncheke headquarter at Nchiru Meru traditional huts Problem Statement: The vernacular built forms have evolved over time to meet the changing needs of the people. These changes have been through try and error and are not based on any scientific study. They have been due to the need of man to provide shelter in varied climatic conditions which provided different challenges. This was in regard to availability and appropriateness of various building materials, roofing styles in varied zones of different precipitation levels, lighting and ventilation. However all this accumulated wealth of knowledge of some communities was lost with the advent of colonialists. This was due to the introduction of western formal education and religion which treated all aspects of African life as backward and the sending of people to concentration camps where the built forms where dictated upon by the colonial masters. The African informal education was abandoned and this led to a discord as knowledge could not be passed to the next generation. The issue was aggravated by the change in paradigm where vernacular built forms were viewed as a sign of poverty and backwardness. They were replaced with western forms, materials and technology which had not been researched upon to ascertain neither their appropriateness in terms of meeting the needs of the people and environmental, nor their sustainability. This has led to unsustainable architecture which lack placentation due to their high embodied energy of the building materials and its lack of identity. 2

3 3 Tigania within the Meru County Aims and objectives: The aims and objectives of the study include the following:- 1. To document and present the Meru vernacular architecture in order to provide a better and detailed understanding of the culture, history and built forms of the Meru community. 2. To analyze the Meru vernacular and contemporary architecture with regard to spatial organization, thermal comfort, ventilation and building materials. 3. To analyse the possibilities and extent to which vernacular architecture can be fused with the contemporary Meru architecture with the aim of establishing a mutually acceptable and sustainable architecture. This will ensure harmonious connection between the old and the new without discarding the present needs Scope and Limitations: Since Meru community has several sub dialects, the study will focus on Tigania due to time limitation. The justification of the above choice is informed by the following reasons: The land demarcation was done in the recent past (1994 in Tigania east) hence remnants of vernacular built forms can be found. Tigania has highland climatic conditions in the upper parts boundary Nyambene ranges while lower parts of towards Isiolo have Semi-arid climatic conditions hence will provide an opportunity of learning on how the vernacular built forms responded to these varied environmental factors. The Njuri Ncheke council of elders has been quite inactive in the greater Meru region and it is only the Tigania chapter which is relatively active hence will be resourceful in the study. Performers at a social function 3

4 Research Methodology: The research will use a number of methods for data collection, analysis and presentation so as to come up with a well-informed literary piece. These will include: Meru traditional granary (a) Literature review of published material: 1. Anyamba, T. C.; Traditional architecture: settlement, evaluation and built form Andersen, Kaj Blegvad; African traditional architecture: a study of the housing and settlement patterns of rural Kenya Rudofsky Bernard; Architecture without architects: a short introduction to non-pedigreed architecture Denyer, Susan; African traditional architecture: an historical and geographical perspective. 5. Paul Oliver; Built to meet needs, cultural issues in vernacular architecture Jeffrey A. Fadiman: When We Began There Were Witchmen,An Oral History from Mount Kenya,1994Amongst others Meru traditional homestead (b) Literature review of unpublished material: 1. Kiara, Peter J; The Town hall : relevance and appropriateness to its cultural context : a case study of the Meru Community B. Arch., Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Nairobi, Mutunga, T.M.; Modernity and tradition : the impact of traditional Africa architecture on contemporary Kenya Architecture - B. Arch., Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Nairobi, Mwangi, S.G. ;Beyond vernacular replication: in search of a regional identity - B. Arch., Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Nairobi,

5 5 (c) Interviews with Architects: Architects who have done projects within the greater Meru region will be of great importance in determining whether any aspects of vernacular architecture were considered when designing the projects. Two projects will be analysed one of which will be a public building and the other one being a single family residential house. (d) Interviews with Meru museum officials: Discussions with the officials of the Meru museum will yield valuable information as far as it relates to the Meru traditions and preserved artefacts. (e) Visits and Interviews Njuri Ncheke elders and Officials: The Njuri Ncheke are the custodians of the Meru traditions, they will offer invaluable information on the communities social cultural practices and their significance to help come up with a relevant and informed paper. Various elders will also be interviewed to establish their take on the thermal performance of the vernacular built form compared to the contemporary architecture of today. (f) Observation Direct observation will be used to document information from the field. Notes and Sketches will be used to document the built forms and artefacts. (g) Photography and measured drawings: Photographic documentation of the built forms will be used during the field studies. This will be also accompanied by measured drawing to help establish different relationships such as the opening sizes and building heights. 5

6 6 (h) Site Visits: A field study of the Njuri Ncheke headquarters at Nchiru will be done. Bearing in mind that the Njuri house at Nchiru was constructed recently (1962), a much older Njuri house will be studied after consultation with the Njuri Ncheke officials. A visit also to the Bomas of Kenya will be done to get the recorded information about the traditional built forms of various communities in Kenya. Tharaka warriors in traditional regalia Njuri Ncheke council of elders 6

7 CHAPTERS OVERVIEW: Chapter one: introduction This chapter serves as the introduction of the thesis and highlights the problem statement, aims and objectives of the study, the scope and limitations and also the research methodology used to undertake the study. Women head gear Men Columbus monkey head gear Chapter two: literature review This chapter gives a brief overview of the Meru community; the origin, migration and settlement in the current location, political, social and religious structures. Geography and climate of the Meru land. It analyses vernacular architecture. Chapter three: the Meru vernacular architecture It examines various built forms, rooms layout and geometry, building materials, and the building process. Arrangements various buildings in the compound and the inter relationships between all these elements. Chapter four: research tools and methodology This chapter deals with the tools used for data collection and analysis. Chapter five: data collection and analyses. Case studies (2 local, 1 international) Data collection and presentation methods Data analysis Chapter six: conclusion and recommendations This final section of the research thesis gives the deductions and recommendations. It highlights the conclusions deduced from the findings of the investigation of the Meru vernacular architecture. 7