A Comparative Study of Igbo Traditional Building Finishings; precolonial, colonial and post-colonial

Abstract

Buildings are cultural expressions of people’s identity as well as their material culture. In recent decades, Igbo traditional architecture has also seen changes in building typology and morphology. It has made a number of architectural claims based on how people perceive modern or traditional or modern contemporary buildings. One of Nigeria’s three main cultural groups, Igbo society can be found in the southeast, south-south, and some areas of the west of the country. Most traditional Igbo buildings from the turn of the century were designed and built with three basic architectural qualities: durability, utility, and beauty (public admiration). These Igbo-speaking states, Anambra, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, and Enugu are the primary Igbo states in Nigeria. Building finishes in Igbo traditional architecture, despite their aesthetic and cultural value, are beginning to disappear due to the influence of the western style of architecture. This is leading to the loss in the cultural values and the beauty of the original Igbo community architecture. This work intends to compare the building finishings used by the Igbo people in precolonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. The disciplinary area of focus is building finishings in Igbo-speaking areas of Nigeria. The author will be careful with the analytical instruments and tools used. Survey method, Qualitative method and Content analysis will be deployed. Traditional Igbo building finishes observed includes mud (called aja uno or aja oto), bamboo stick (called achara or otosi), timber (called osisi), palm midrib (known as ofolo), timber (known as osisi), thatch (known as akanya, ata, aju, akilika, ejo etc), dye (uli, urie) used for colouring and rope/ strings (elili, udo, ekwele) were being used as fasteners for the joints in place of nails.