Where have our entrance porches gone? That’s the question I have been asking myself.
As we left the mud houses and started building houses with cement and block walls, a typical Igbo man’s house had a large entrance area.
It is this area he uses to entertain guests while they drink and enjoy outdoor fresh air.
Madam and the children can have the TV. Men preferred the outdoors, the evening cooling breeze, and connecting to nature, while keeping each other company with varying tales or business discussions, until they were ready to retire for the day.
Just like in the mud house era, he had his Iba. Everyone who enters his compound must see him first.
Read also: The Nigerian Phobia for the Bachelor’s Pad design.
Now, the entrance area is gone, left with just a small porch to protect the entrance door from rain.
I’m tempted to blame site constraints due to the sizes of the plots. I don’t know. But there is also the place of the client’s needs influenced by trends.
We are now stuck indoors with our phones and air-conditioning, no evening outdoor relaxation.
Home outdoor entertainment is now a luxury.
The backyard is off-limits. It’s usually an extension of the kitchen; an outdoor cooking here, a drying-out platform there.
Outdoor entertainment has moved to the sides of the building (for those who have the space).
That’s where we have the swimming pools now for birthday parties and small events.
Some have an entertainment area on the roof. The roof does not have the regular gable of a hipped roof that you see around you.
Just a simple shading device and the rest is open to the sky with the floors treated with waterproof cement.
I recently received a design brief from a client for a home in his village. He specifically requested for a large porch. He is advanced in age, probably in his 50s.
I guess this is a trend with millennials and Gen Z.
I pause here and have to ask…
Where exactly are we going? Why did they remove the entrance porches in our buildings?
