TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE AMONG THE IGBO OF NIGERIA: A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Ifeyinwa Cordelia Isidienu 1
Lotachukwu Loveth Amalukwue 2
Department of Igbo, African and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria 1
Department of English Language and Literature, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria 2
Corresponding E-mail: ll.amalukwue@unizik.edu.ng 2
Abstract
The Igbo people of South-Eastern Nigeria are endowed with a lot of cultural heritage-their language, religion, arts and crafts, architecture, music, clothing, food, literature, and the totality of their way of life. People’s culture is their identity. Thus, the traditional Igbo architecture which is basically in vogue in precolonial Igbo society is part of the culture of the Igbo people and it is embedded in their values and belief system. Unfortunately, this traditional Igbo architecture is waning and moribund in the face of modernization.Thus, this research comes handy as it calls for urgent revitalization of traditional Igbo architectural designs and the creation of awareness of its importance through a detailed examination of the different architectural designs that existed in Igbo society, the material for their construction and the convenience, comfort and satisfaction one gets from them. The research is qualitative in that the researchers employ library research and direct observations in carrying out the research. The theoretical framework is based on New Historicism which emphasizes the cultural and social context in which a work is interpreted. The paper concludes on the note that craft and creativity also reside in non-literate societies whose architectural designs are the focus of this research.
Keywords: Traditional, Architecture, Culture, Igbo, Identity, Nigeria.
