Architecture, Islam, and identity in West Africa : lessons from Larabanga / Michelle Apotsos.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Apotsos, Michelle, author.

Contributor:

Martin and Margy Meyerson Endowment Fund for the Built Environment.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islam and architecture--Africa, West.

Islam and architecture.

Islam and culture--Africa, West.

Islam and culture.

Cultural geography--Africa, West.

Cultural geography.

Islam and architecture--Ghana--Larabanga.

Islam and culture--Ghana--Larabanga.

Cultural geography--Ghana--Larabanga.

Larabanga (Ghana)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Larabanga (Ghana).

Buildings.

West Africa.

Ghana--Larabanga.

Physical Description:

xiv, 215 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016.

Summary:

Architecture, Islam, and Identity in West Africa" shows you the relationship between architecture and Islamic identity in West Africa. The book looks broadly across Muslim West Africa and takes an in-depth study of the village of Larabanga, a small Muslim community in Northern Ghana, to help you see how the built environment encodes cultural history through form, material, and space, creating an architectural narrative that outlines the contours of this distinctive Muslim identity. Apotsos explores how modern technology, heritage, and tourism have increasingly affected the contemporary architectural character of this community, revealing the village's current state of social, cultural, and spiritual flux. More than 60 black and white images illustrate how architectural components within this setting express the distinctive narratives, value systems, and realities that make up the unique composition of this Afro-Islamic community.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Framing the Subject and the Region: West African Islamic Architecture

1. Locating Larabanga: Architecture and Contemporary Islamic Identity in West Africa

Afro-Islamic Architecture in Context: Definitions, Approaches, and Assessments

The Shape of a Discipline: African Architecture Across Time and Space

Moving Forward: Larabanga Within a West African Islamic Architectural Discourse

2. The Road to Larabanga: A Short History of Afro-Islamic Architecture

Setting the Stage: Early Islamic Architecture and its African Reimaginings

Before Bilad al-Sudan: Islamic Architecture in North Africa and the Maghreb

Muslim Architecture at the West African Crossroads

Architecture, Islam, and the Gold Coast

British Colonialism and the Northern Region

3. Mallams, Mosques, and Mystic Stones: The Story of Larabanga

Locating the "Land of the Arabs" in West Africa

Constructing an Islamic Community from the Inside Out: Interactive Architecture

Architecture, Materiality, and the Kamara Identity

Architecture in Action: Performing Identity in Larabanga

4. Building Across Borders: Larabanga in Transition

Modernization and Larabanga's Shifting Landscape

Culture and Continuity in the Architectural Environment of Larabanga

Heritage and the Issue of Ghanaian National Identity

Tourism: New People, New Problems.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-209) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Martin and Margy Meyerson Endowment Fund for the Built Environment.

ISBN:

9781138192454

1138192457

9781138192461

1138192465

OCLC:

931861032

Publisher Number:

99988611357