These two structures were built during roughly the same timeframe.

>>578193
>I don't want the answer to be racist.
bait.
Also, probably just the aesthetic sensibilities of the cultures.

>>578193
Different t areas developed at differ we rates
One issue is that if a system works for a culture they tend to keep it and not improve - eg Polynesians never developed higher level tech but were able to colonise thousands of islands, China never took gunpowder to the next level and so on

Because there was no reason for Africans to build something like thing like that.

What was the point of all the little stumps sticking out of the walls, were they just decorative?

File: Great Mosque of Djenné Dubois_1896_p164_cropped.jpg (326KB, 1997x834px) Image search: [Google]

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Both of those structures were built by the French m8.

The current Djenné mosque was built in 1907 by French colonial authorities. Pic related is what it looked like before.

>>578245
They climb and put more mud on it when it rains

>>578193
>built in the same time-frame
No they weren't, the mosque of djenne was built in 1907

>>578197
>just the aesthetic sensibilities of the cultures
If you really wanted to fight racism you'd make a bit more effort.

The west Africans were like the celts, they just didn't know how to do it. arches, flying buttresses, cement and whatnot took 100s of years to develop. If they could they would, if they weren't cucked by other civilizations they would eventually, but they were cucks, and didn't, like the celts.

>>578259
It was funded by the French

>>578305
Yeah two different ares with different Climate, resources and architectural history.

Oh and the African one had no exposure to foreign architect except Islamic based ones which even then we're pretty minute.

>>578260
that seems quite a clever way to get around not having scaffolding etc, thanks for an interesting informative response

>>578305
I didn't want to fight racism, I wanted to fight OP asking a question and then dictating how it should be answered.

>I don't want the answer to be racist.

Except that's what you're going to get, at least in your eyes.

>>578338
Much more than just funded. It was built under French administration, and the works were directed by a French-educated mason. The layout is that of a Baroque church, and nothing about the building bears any resemblance to the original mosque.

>>578348

see >>578259

>>578384
That's not the original mosque.

It's a former jihadist fort built over the ruins of the true mosque. The fulani mujahideen destroyed it for being too ornate and detailed for fundamentalist tastes.

The mosque was originally described as having a large dome and intricate colorful patterns on it.

t. Mandinka-Sorko hybrid

>>578509
You're right it's not the original mosque, but it's a mosque nonetheless, which was built next to the original one. The original one was not destroyed though, just abandoned.

This is how the original building was described:

>There is no other written information on the Great Mosque until the French explorer René Caillié visited Djenné in 1828 and wrote "In Jenné is a mosque built of earth, surmounted by two massive but not high towers; it is rudely constructed, though very large. It is abandoned to thousands of swallows, which build their nests in it. This occasions a very disagreeable smell, to avoid which, the custom of saying prayers in a small outer court has become common."

Either way it was completely different and much simpler than the current construction.

>>578193
Actually from an engineering standpoint the Djenne mosque is impressive as fuck.

>>578193
>i dont want the answer to be racist
how did this site come to this

>>578549
Not really, considering it was built by the same people who build the other building in the OP 800 years before.

>>578193
>>578305
>i dont want the answer to be racist
>if you really wanted to fight racism you'd make a bit more effort

never in my life did i ever think i would hear these things on 4chan.

>>578193

They hired an Andalusian architect to build the Djenne mosque. Those pillar supports and mud walls were the only materials available to them. Djenne and Timbuktu were rich and educated, but with limited building materials you can't build as well, plus architectural styles that make it easier to build the actual stuff.

File: yeha[1].jpg (33KB, 341x274px) Image search: [Google]

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>>578193
You're not going to find many extravagant examples of African architecture, considering that most of their cities and structures that did exist are ruins, and being a society of oral tradition they wouldn't really have the written records to provide evidence.

This is the Yeha temple in Ethiopia. It once stood several stories tall and dates back to 7th or 8th century BC. Now it's a heap of ruins and there's no records to tell us what it looked like standing.

>>578538
The fulani literally tore it down m8

Your picture is of a fort

>>578570
Lad, it's made of mud and wooden poles. The fact that it's so big and still standing is nothing short of impressive.

File: Adam-Smith-The-Wealth-of-Nations.jpg (61KB, 320x480px) Image search: [Google]

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>>578193
Here is your answer, written a few centuries before you had to ask it...

>>578193

Hasn't it been rebuilt several times along history?

>>578931
Yes and apparently has gotten shittier every time

>>578193
>What is the reason for this? Lack of materials? Inspiration? I don't want the answer to be racist.

The mosque of Djenne is meant to be a simple piece of architecture. The people of the area have always been a fairly simple folk and the mosque serves its purpose as a town hall and a place of prayer. If you think about it, it's incredibly practical given the environment. The structure is solid in the dry seasons and in the wet and floody seasons is fairly easy to repair.

Most people here either inherit a house or buy a new one. In those sort of areas, every successive generation builds its own house and if it's washed away in a flood, you build a new one from the mud. The mosque of djenne is designed to be a somewhat more permanent structure, albeit easily repairable, but is also reflective of the general architecture around it like any other religious structure, and most of the people around it live in mud houses like they have for hundreds if not thousands of years and they don't see any real reason why they should change that. Also, the mosque could be said to reflect some of their religious beliefs about the transient nature of this world while the church there could be said to reflect the permanent nature of God and his church/kingdom. Both serve their spiritual purposes well and I don't think it's fair to judge one as better than the other just because one is a bit more indulgent in its style.

>>579024
Damn now you got me interested in the culture of these perpetual caretakers and their lives

>>578193
to build that you need arches, vaults, cement, buttresses, all roman inventions that were never shared with sub-saharan.

>>580745
You need only a fraction of that, but many other inventions dating back to the Middle Ages.

Sub-Sahara Africa is fucking pathetic compared to any other region on the face of the earth.

>>579024
Why'd they use mud? Didn't they have stone?

french cities were more densely populated and were in competition with other french cities to build larger and larger cathedrals. not a race thing, just different priorities

>>581283

There's a whole lot more mud in that area than stone desu

>>578929
I have Wealth of Nations next to me, but the sheer size of it scares me away from it... Goddamnit Adam couldn't you write all of it in 300 pages instead?

In the eyes of God, it's all that counts.

Poor people building and maintaining a mosque on an annual for the love of God alone.

A humble house of God.

>>578193

>different place, diferent people, different population size, different culture, different economy, different geography, different climate, different technology, different materials, different infrastructure, different religion, different conditions, different aestethics, different functions, different thinking, different skills, different history, different social organisation, different political system, different ways of doing things, different mentality, different posibilities, different needs and wants, different situations, differnt reaons

>>578592
The Djenne mosque was built by the French senpai

>>581009
stop. hate facts are hate speech. >>>/pol/

File: 1453057724811.jpg (267KB, 1920x1092px) Image search: [Google]

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>>578193
I believe this quote from Avatar does a fine job correlating what's happening.

>>581460
get over it or get out sjw

>>581409
This pretty much sums it up

>>581283
Stone is harder to transport and mud it's easier to repair. Basically the same reason why in southern europe and latin america the chosen material for brick houses was adobe.

>>578245
>>578260
this can't be true?? this is so fucking funny but then again its nignogs..

>>578193
the one on the top was built in the 20th century, I'm not sure if that's what the original one looked like.

>>578509
>The fulani mujahideen destroyed it for being too ornate and detailed for fundamentalist tastes.

really? Where can I read about this?

>>578947
>made with adobe
>gets shittier
kek

>>581487
The Aliens in Avatar were hunter gathers though

File: 1446664081776.png (64KB, 1233x500px) Image search: [Google]

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>>578193

>I don't want the answer to be racist.

But the answer is racist by definition

>>578634
Seems like all the Eurasian ones (Egyptians, Arabs, Ethiopians) made OK architecture.