Social Architecture and the Quiet Death of Human Interaction.
On Christmas day, I went out for a village stroll. I wanted to see the Christmas vibes in the village and no, I was not wearing Christmas clothes.
I went to check out a spot I thought looked like a stream side. I desired the feeling of water around my ankles.
Turns out that the area I went to explore had no water there.
It looked like there was once a stream (I saw bamboo trees) but it isn’t there anymore, so I trekked further.
What I saw were very tall, straight trees. Beautiful and elegant trees. Between 15-25 metres high.
I got scared of the lonely area, it was too quiet with just the sounds of the fruit of the trees constantly dropping, no chipping birds.
If it was nighttime, I would be petrified and since I didn’t tell my neighbour where I was going, I had to turn back and come back to the central road.
Now this post is not about trees but the social culture I previously had not noticed.
I have not been on this particular road in over four months and the times I did, I was chatting while walking by with a colleague from the office and so never paid attention to that surrounding.
Walking by alone, I was observing the people, then I noticed it.
The concrete chair.
It was placed in front of the compounds, not mandatory because not everyone had it, but it seemed they were encouraging pedestrians to take a break, sit, rest and continue.
By this, I’m naturally lured to interact with the next person, something I wouldn’t have done.
Then I thought about our cities, the estates, where human interactions are locked out behind fences and tinted cars.
How did we get here?
We had parks but how many people go there? The lack of human traffic and by extension, interaction, resulted in the extinction of such urban spaces and social architecture.
I have first-hand experience. My family lives in an estate where we barely interact with neighbours not for lack of interest but because architecture walled everyone off.
The one urban spot left as a park has been turned into a hotel.
A full-fledged permanent structure in a place that was supposed to be a neighbourhood spot.
You can do better; I can do better.
Don’t fence off the entire front part of your plot.
Put a mud or concrete chair there. Allow a social interactive spot on your plot.
Be the reason Aliko Dangote can decide to take a rest and a random girl’s career life could change because they met on your spot.
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BTW, my name is Ebelechukwu and I design and build modern mud homes using traditional techniques for cooler interiors and adequate daylighting.
