SAMBURU : ARCHITECTURE

 

Samburu houses vary depending on whether they are in the lowlands or highlands, the size of the family, the presence or absence of livestock, and other factors. In the highlands especially, some people have started to build houses typically seen in urban areas, like the "modest home" featured in the Nairobi section. The houses pictured here then, represent only one Samburu general house type, the lowland one. These houses are built with branches and poles. Their walls are covered with hides, and their roof with woven mats called "suuti." Highland houses are larger, and have a mud/cow dung mixture plastering walls and roof. Urban style houses are variously constructed from logs, bricks, concrete blocks, or stone.

VIDEOS

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Lowland Goat Pen	Lowland House	Lowland House 2

Nkaji Naibor ceremony	Nkaji Naibor 2	Nkaji Naibor 3

 

PHOTOGRAPHS

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Building Nkaji Naibor	Building Nkaji Naibor #2	Goat Pens with House in Rear

House and Goat Pens	Samburu settlement	Samburu Girl at house entrance