THE ISLAM-ORIENTED HOUSE STRUCTURE IN KANO: A VANISHING HERITAGE IN MODERN CITY COMPOSITION

Abstract

he debut of colonialism along with the consequent de facto supremacy of the Western world did not only
negatively impact on the economy and polity of the Muslim world. It has also, to some reasonable extent,
polluted the social system, particularly the structure and form of cities. Human scale is gradually diminishing
as a yardstick for construction and is being replaced by a mathematical one. Collectivism, which used to
characterize Muslims' social set-up, is now being over-shadowed by stark individualism. The Islamic social
values which used to be the binding force that held Muslims together are now being crushed by moral
relativity. The situation becomes so chronic that many people begin to assume that Islam has a very negligible
role to play in the formation and construction of modern cities. Kano, a predominantly Muslim state in NorthWestern

Nigeria, inherited a thousand year-old Islam-oriented building architecture which made it a model
Islamic city in pre-colonial Africa. Of special reference is the residential structure which no doubt reflects
Islamic culture. Unfortunately, this age-old heritage is now being pushed to the brink of extinction by the
almighty modern architecture. This paper explores the Islamic in the Kano traditional residential structure and
attempts to comparatively bring into light the extent to which it is diminishing in the modern building
architecture. The paper suggests blending the two for a peaceful and harmonious co-existence.