Preservation of Cultural Heritage through the Application of Architectural Strategies in Museum Designs
Samuel Bello Sayo1, Joy Joshua Maina2, Musa Lawal Sagada3
Department of Architecture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Email: sbswax5@gmail.com, jjmaina@abu.edu.ng, msagada@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Despite the influence of technology in every aspect of human endeavour which has in some cases resulted to the homogeneity and mediocrity of a people’s cultural identity and heritage, there are still regions that have resisted its full impact, enabling them to preserve and sustain their culture mostly through their architecture. Gidan Makama Museum happens to be a museum of traditional architectural excellence that is situated in the city of Kano and it housing in it and on it the various expressions of the diverse and enormous cultural heritage of the Hausa people. This paper identified these features and the architectural strategies that were employed to express and represent the cultural heritage of the Hausa traditional culture of the Kano people in the museum buildings. The study was based on visual survey and descriptive analysis. Findings from the visual survey shows that museum buildings can excellently expressed and preserve the cultural features and heritage of a people irrespective of their customs or location. The study however concluded that the application of architectural strategies in preserving cultural heritage is of great significance to a people and their region, because it makes their built environment have their sense of place, enabling them break away from homogeneity for the sake of posterity.
Keywords: Architectural strategies; Cultural heritage; Preservation; Gidan Makama Museum
