Maasai Cultural EnkangVernacular Architecture | Professor Joshua Lessard | 5 weeks
Inspired by a personal experience of visiting with the Maasai in Kenya several years ago, I undertook a research project focusing on recent changes to their culture and the effects on their vernacular architecture. After 5 weeks of research and writing, 5 weeks were devoted to the design of a culturally sensitive architectural response to my thesis. After decades of tourism and Western ‘conservation’, the Maasai people have lost much of the autonomy they once enjoyed. Though the effects of modernization cannot be reversed, this cultural complex will serve as a platform for the preservation of the traditional Maasai way of life as well as educate the next generation for culturally-sensitive assimilation with modern society. Built and operated by the Maasai, the design creates only a framework within which can be met many different needs. |