The following article appeared in the Volume 14 Number 2 edition of
THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART.
AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE EMERGES IN AMERICA
by Paul . Taylor, Jr.

AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE EMERGES IN AMERICA

A building believed to be the first completed work in the United States to utilize the traditional architecture of West Africa as the basis for its design was dedicated on September 12 1996, on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. This unique facility is the Nyumburu Cultural Center. Presiding over the event, wearing his finest African vestments, was J. Otis Williams, center director. A new era was ushered in as William's cut the ribbon across the pillared brick entrance porch that is inspired by the urban dwellings of the Asante.   The amphitheater of the Nyumburu Cultural Center is inspired by the terraced terrain of the Mandara Mountains; its nsaka, an octagonal entrance pavilion, is the communal focal point of the complex; and its many brick patterns reflect the symbols and motifs of Adinkra and Kente cloths. With completion of the center, architecture is at last responding to a movement that other sectors of the art world embraced long ago. Most visitors to the center have praised the facility as an attractive and functional work of architecture. But many, including a number of African Americans, have questioned me, the university architect, about the need for an "Afrocentric" architectural expression and its significance to the future of the African American community.   I was motivated to take this approach because I feel that it is Imperative for the health of my people. African Americans suffered the massive eradication of their ancestral cultures and they remain suspended at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. For me, the causal relations between the first and second circumstance are clear.   Architecture provides an intimate immersion experience through which historical and cultural knowledge can be instilled. Architecture surrounds us on a daily basis. It is a permanent presence - a constant of monumental dimensions.   Architecture celebrates cultures we value and cherish. Preserve the architecture and you preserve the culture that created it because architecture is symbolic and ideological as well as functional. To be surrounded by the symbols and images of one's heritage is to be affirmed and empowered.   The cultures of our African ancestors deserve to be preserved. West Africa today suffers from the lingering effects of colonization and African Americans are in a unique position to help ameliorate the situation. If we can save endangered species, surely we can save endangered cultures.   The concept of an "African school" or 'Afrocentric' approach to design has sparked debate in the last few years among many in the design professions. But advocating this approach is not a call for us to deny our American heritage, for there is no American culture without the African American component.   Because architecture anchors our place in the world, American buildings with an African character say to all people that African American culture is a part of American culture and it is here to stay.