The story of shelter begins in the caves with the hunting and gathering man. Eventually, as he became agriculturist, it became imperative for man to have a fixed base to keep an eye on his crops and animals. Constrained by the existing physical setting and technology, man begets a shelter form dictated by his cultural beliefs.
In Uganda the round hut is historically the predominant architectural form. The hut could be of mud and/or grass. The buildings were arranged in homestead clusters. In Africa in general, the spiritual world was viewed as richer than the physical world and so the built environment is rather scanty but infused with cosmic meaning. Architecture was mainly residential. Among a few tribes like the Baganda, however, there were of signs of monumentality, for example, as evidenced by Kasubi tombs. But society was more or less egalitarian. Every man knew how to build as skills were handed from generation to generation. There were homesteads forming villages strewn all over the landscape, and looking homogenous and very much part of nature.
The colonialists changed the built environment drastically. They introduced a capitalistic economy, and new technology and building materials. Urbanisation started with towns as centres of administration and commerce. Urban areas in Uganda were established complete with administration buildings, a court building, and maybe a hotel (part of the Uganda Hotels chain). The administration facilities were augmented by Indian dukas. The duka, an arcade building with 3 – 5 rentable shops and residential facilities at the backside, was an Indians creation that has become the quintessential building in Ugandan townships.
Kampala was established when Lugard put up a flag and a fort at Old Kampala Hill. Existing already was the traditional Ganda capital – the Kibuga. The Municipality started by Lugard and the Kibuga existed together but with different characteristics. This resulted in a duality that has had ramifications for city development up to today. While the Municipality was well organised based on then modern urban principles, the Kibuga was based on rural administration modes, was poorly served with infrastructure and grew in a disorganised manner. African immigrants went to the Kibuga for cheap accommodation. Those who failed to get jobs in the Municipality sought employment in the nascent informal sector in the Kibuga. The physical manifestation of the informal sector is the organic and largely disorganised informal settlements, which constitute about 60 percent of the cityscape today. The Kibuga became part of the Municipality in 1968. But those areas which were in the Municipality (Kololo. Nakasero, Bugoloobi etc) have remained well planned while those in the former Kibuga are still relatively disorganised (e.g. Katwe, Kisenyi, and large parts of Mengo, Nakulabye).
The colonialists brought new styles of architecture. Every new town, from provincial to sub county level, had an administrative headquarter and support buildings that were usually of substantial brick architecture. For accommodation the British built themselves what they called ‘senior-quarters’ (very good residences with lush green compounds). In Kampala the senior-quarters were at Kololo where the residences are, by any standards, grand and handsome. The Asians also built substantially. Areas such as Nakasero and Old Kampala have many a fine Asian Style building, but usually not with so much green. For the natives the British provided the African Quarters which had very basic 1-2 bedroom house usually with bathroom and kitchen outside, for example at Naguru in Kampala and Walukuba in Jinja. But for the white-collar job African, relatively better accommodation in form of pool houses was provided.
For commercial use Modern-Architecture-inspired buildings by colonialists came up like Sheraton Hotel, UCB building, IPS, Crested Towers. The material used was mainly concrete using a column and beam system. Huge social infrastructure facilities, at a scale that has never been equalled since, were constructed: Makerere University, Mulago Hospital (Mulago is perhaps the largest Modernist work in Uganda), and Luzira Prison. In other towns similar facilities also exist e.g. Bugiri Hospital and Soroti Hospital.
The church has been a key player in construction of numerous schools of colonial brick style: e.g. Namilyango, Kisubi, Namagunga, Budo, and Gayaza. Churches, like the beautifully proportioned Rubaga Cathedral and the imposing Namirembe Cathedral, are important landmarks in the city. Churches are also involved in provision of health facilities: Rubaga Hospital, Nsambya Hospital, and Namirembe Hospital. The Moslems too have Kibuli High School and Kibuli Hospital. In the rural areas the churches and associated social facilities are still the most dominant built form.
Today, over 85 percent of Uganda is rural. The urban areas have a concentration of economic activity with urban inhabitants having a higher average income than their rural counterparts. In Uganda’s context Kampala is a primate city producing the lion’s share of GDP. But there are lots of urban poor many of whom are worse off than the average rural dweller. Poverty in towns is evidenced by the ubiquitous informal settlements. Three out of every five people you see on a Kampala street live in appalling and unhygienic conditions in informal settlements many of which are overcrowded, unhygienic, and flood prone.
In the countryside the wattle-and-daub grass-thatched hut still predominates today. Huts are strewn over the savannah landscape to form a oneness with nature that can evoke poetic emotions. The traditional hut itself is well suited to our climate as anyone who has experienced its cool interior on a hot afternoon can attest. The round shape, continuous vent at the top, use of courtyards, and choice of building materials result in a cool environment. But getting a brick and mabaati house is status symbol always at the expense of thermal comfort. Timber for construction and for firing bricks is fast disappearing, hence the need to find building alternatives that consume less of the forest resource. Many in town also have a house in the village, and possibly a few animals, where they go when they inevitably die. In the upcountry town, a flimsy version of the Indian-Duka is still the defining style.
Housing is an important indicator of standards of living. In the framework for shelter provision, Government, through the ministry responsible for housing, provides an enabling environment for private firms and individuals to build (Government has divested itself of the role of direct housing construction). But National Housing Corporation (NH & CC), a government parastatal established in 1964, is still fairly active in construction. NH & CC built the Bugoloobi and Bukoto flats, which, though dilapidated, are still hot commodities for the Kampala middle class. Yet in developed countries such repetitive accommodation arrangements with dead spaces in between are undesirable and being demolished. Naalya Estate is the most recent large scale NH & CC project. NH & CC collaborates with the Housing Finance Company whose purpose is to provide building construction loans. One result of Government concentrating on broader issues is the School of Architecture at Makerere, which has an explicit aim of attaining a contextual architecture appropriate to Uganda. Graduates of the school are unfortunately not being used maximally as people are generally not aware of what they can offer in making delightful architecture as well as ordering the urban environment at neighbourhood scale.
Given the huge shelter need, the effect of NH & CC and Housing Finance is negligible. And with no significant private sector player in the field, people are left to use their individual efforts. The new middle-class, despite the fact that some of them can very well afford to buy a finished house, must go through the entire process and hassles of getting a house constructed. Acquisition of land is the first problem, which is sometimes solved by attacking swamps. Getting the funds to start building is the next huddle as the housing finance system is inadequate. He then gets a plan (probably a poor quality one from a draughtsman), and undergoes the tedious urban authority approval process. Getting water and electricity is another long story wrought with bureaucracy and corruption. This contrasts with the developed world where practically any citizen can acquire a finished and serviced house any time through the mortgage system that ensures that they don’t have to have all the money in a lump sum. As the rich-man’s slum in Muyenga demonstrates, laissez faire in Uganda has resulted in chaotic built environments. Many of the rich must live in a sea of poverty and must create prisons of high walls around the compound to keep out the poor, whom they view, sometimes justifiably, with suspicion.
Individualism without adequate and appropriate supra-controls results in disorganised habitats with the associated financial and social costs. This disorganisation is best attested to by the fact that there is no home address system, even in Kampala, such that to direct somebody to particular house one goes like: at the mvule turn left, then move on to the rubbish heap and turn left again. When you reach the little kiosk ask them to direct you to Nalongo. She will direct you to me. Don’t worry you won’t get lost.
The middle class house is the best representation of recent high domestic architecture. Following a construction slump due to political and economic anarchy was a period of rapid construction activity in form of bungalows in areas like Muyenga, Naguru, Ntinda and Bunga starting around 1987. The typical middle-class house is as big as possible and completely a result of individual effort. Size matters more than quality and it is done piecemeal as resources are availed. Today’s house is not so good in workmanship and detailing (relative to the fine colonial British and Asian building). Actually there is no true aesthetic reflective of the aspirations and context of the middle class. The tacky detailing is a reflection of the pervasive confusion in the building sector and the Ugandan society. Such houses are often done without an architect’s input and there is therefore no consistent thought to style and refinement of taste.
On the commercial scene, 19-storey Workers House is Uganda’s skyscraper (it is a baby, say when compared to the 110-storey twin towers of the World Trade Centre that crumbled in spectacular fashion). Its sleek tile and glass aesthetic, first made prominent by Communications House, is now hip in the city. Other fairly recent buildings include Rwenzori House (a pseudo-classical style with post-modernist ethos) and the Rwenzori Courts. Contractors for these are international based ROKO, SKANSKA, etc. Local ones can only manage the smaller projects. Many new 4-6 storey building by local businessmen such as Basajjabalaba are coming up in the Commercial Business District. All these buildings are isolated works and while they might be good individually, many have a negative impact on urban spaces. The city is slowly degenerating; there are no decent pedestrian spaces to speak of as cars and border-border cyclists have conquered all streets. Add the vagabonds and walking in Kampala is a hellish experience. Furthermore, developers want to use up even the little existing green; the effect of which will be that the city will become one chaotic mess of activity. In upcountry towns, 2- 4 storey hotels such as White House in Lira and Nyakanyero in Gulu are the swankiest recent additions.
By and large, the pre-colonial landscape was dramatically altered by new forces engendered by the British. Today, the country, though predominantly rural, is rapidly urbanising. In rural areas people continue to live in rudimentary shelters but have the advantage of lots of space. In towns, the majority are very poor and live in unhygienic conditions in informal settlements. Within this poverty there are some high quality developments that have nonetheless occurred without following a particular style that one could say is a conscious result of the Ugandan unique situation. The issues that emerge therefore are how to improve the housing situation of the poor masses in villages and urban areas, and how to beget an architecture that is truly reflective of ideals and aspirations of all Ugandans. In so doing political questions on land and income distribution will definitely come up.
