Heat wave

Living in Nigeria has its ups. Sometimes though, one has to wonder whether there are more downs than ups. Take for instance, the current heat wave. Now, anyone who has lived all of his life (or most of his life in my case) in Nigeria knows that the heat is something that gets really bad at about this time of year. We have had a few months of dry weather, so simply put there is no real 'freshness' from the atmosphere for us to fall back on. In a few weeks when the first rains come, things would change.

Unfortunately, the little things that could make the three or four months of intense heat bearable do not seem to exist around these parts. There is little or no power, and neighbours all over the place leave their generating sets on all night to provide themselves comfort. Unfortunately, these generators add to the heat, and the noise from them makes things even worse. Witness that I for example have not had a decent night's rest for a while except on a few occasions when I have for the sake of my own sanity decided to say something like 'fuck all y'all' then head to a cheap hotel to get some sleep under the comforting chills of an air conditioner.

But what of the other things that can be done to ameliorate the effects of this heat wave?

This is where the failure of our educational system comes into a very sharp focus. In this case, our architects are simply not thinking. Have you ever been on the inside of a mud hut? No matter the weather outside, the temperature inside is cool, and very comfortable to the human body. Our ancestors got that right.

Part of the problem with places like Lagos is the senseless way residential (and commercial) buildings are constructed. Concrete block walls are the favoured way of construction in Nigeria, a habit imported wholesale from the United Kingdom. We do not even make use of as much wood as the British do. Unfortunately, concrete walls and ceilings retain heat from the hot, sunny day and radiate that heat into the house at night. This is great in cold climates, but a major discomfort in hot, tropical climate. Every architect should know that. . .

Homes in Nigeria are designed along European lines and this retains all of the heat. It is even worse when you construct the ceiling as poured concrete reinforced by steel. If you live on the second floor, all the heat retained by the concrete ceiling will be radiated into your living space. If you do not have an air conditioner, you will practically cook in your house.

The 1982 novel A Time For Adventure describes a scenario where in the future Africans return to their traditional materials for building. Maybe a return to using mud will not fly, but there is no rule against making use of fire-baked clay as is done in the Middle East. To be sincere, concrete, mud, and fire-baked clay are all the same material if we come down to first principles, so these two can be reinforced with metal rods like concrete is. Nigerian architects need to learn to incorporate earth and vegetation into their designs.

A well-designed tropical home that makes use of the right materials and construction methods can go a long way toward making your living space comfortable and also save on electricity use by your air conditioning. What do they teach in architecture schools in Nigeria, anyway?