What am I looking at here PJ? Walled units with hut homes and big stone buildings?
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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I found a paper that mentions this photograph https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348506390_Return_to_the_Native_Earth_Historical_Analysis_of_Foreign_Influences_on_Traditional_Architecture_in_Burkina_Faso/download
The photo was taken by Walter Mittelholzer and is the "figure 6" referenced in this quote:
"In terms of urban planning, the two cultural worlds also clashed due to their completely opposing approaches. The classic European order, designed and based on the grid as an urban design tool, was diametrically opposed to the spontaneous and organic order of local groupings. The current great city of Ouagadougou, which was then composed of clusters of houses and the first facilities, was already beginning to adapt to this new foreign planning. The impressive photographs taken by Swiss pilot Walter Mittelholzer during his flight over the city in 1930 left valuable evidence of the time when the two orders coexisted (Figures 5 and 6). However, this coexistence was not to last long since, as can be seen in the images, it was to be the fabric of the new French planning that would finally prevail in city development."
So basically, France said "you have to build your cities on a grid now" and the local Mossi people interpreted that their own way
So awesome finding this! Thank you. How did you do it??
Just a reverse image search on the photo. I was mostly just hoping to find the source to see if that had anything helpful, but when I saw a ResearchGate link in the results it caught my eye
Ouija (Luigi) bord. It takes a while to get the whole thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouagadougou#Colonialism
On 5 September 1896 French forces entered Ouagadougou and burned the city to the ground.[12] In 1919 the colonial administration made Ouagadougou the capital of the Upper Volta territory, extensively rebuilding the town. In 1954 the railroad line from Ivory Coast reached the city, spurring massive population growth.[11]
Doesn't really explain the architecture, but it's where the image is from
I believe so! I don't know much about this pic, just found it interesting
Wonder if the big buildings are the unit’s leader or storage buildings
this looks like my first cities skylines world
Wow