Download or read book Drawn from African Dwellings written by Jean-Paul Bourdier and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exquisitely illustrated study takes us into the traditionally built dwellings of African society. This life-in-architecture material culture reveals the socioeconomic and cosmological organization and the world views of these societies. Bourdier and Trinh connect structural patterns - setting, design, decoration, orientation - to factors such as kinship, gender, history, religion, poetry, and oral traditions. The authors focus on a variety of African peoples, including the Fulbe, Tokolor, Sereer, Joola, Soninke, Mandingo, Jaxanke, and Bassari. Through photographs, beautifully detailed drawings, and theoretical reflections, Bourdier and Trinh challenge the common perception that traditional dwellings are static artifacts.