非洲建筑(African architecture)
非洲的建筑风格。非洲五千个民族大致以禾草、木材、黏土建屋。在南非洲、西非和苏丹等地，普遍而带有地方变异的形式是带有茅草尖顶的圆筒状房子。常见的建筑方法是利用泥巴装填的一圈柱子（参阅pole construction）；在缺乏木材的地方，房屋可藉盘管陶瓷内装泥巴的技术来建造。在某些地区，栅栏村庄（Kraal）具有防卫功能。西非典型的聚落形式是墙围的聚合体，包括住宅、谷仓、畜篷等。许多雨林地带的民族使用斜屋顶由茅草（或波纹铁）覆盖的长方形房屋，许多田园地带的游牧民族建立了帐篷结构（tent structures）。马赛人（Masai）利用牛粪涂抹的木棍架构，建造了长方形的小屋。较早的城市文明常受阿拉伯及北非传统影响，竖立了垂直式而平顶的泥、石建筑物。奈及利亚贝宁城（Benin City）的大宫殿大小等於一个欧洲城镇，拥有许多宫廷及长廊建筑物、木瓦屋顶、凸显青铜鸟类的高塔。约鲁巴（Yoruba）城镇仍以传统宫殿为中心，大马路自此向外辐射；虽然这种建筑如今常已西方化，仍有传统庭院和围绕的高墙，巨大的宫殿建筑物拥有由女像柱支撑的开放性走廊。在许多西非城镇中，布满木造补强物的清真寺是重要建筑。虽然划时代的庙宇极少，精神象徵却弥漫於住宅里。
English version：
African architecture
Building styles of Africa. Most of Africa's 5,000 peoples build in grasses, wood, and clay. A prevalent form in southern Africa, West Africa, and the Sudan, with local variations, is the cylindrical house with conical thatched roof. A common method of construction uses a ring of posts with mud infill (see pole construction). Where wood is less available, houses may be constructed of mud in a coil pottery technique. In some areas the kraal serves a defensive function. The characteristic settlement form in West Africa is the walled compound, a cluster of units including dwellings, granaries, and pens for animals. Rectangular houses with pitched roofs covered with thatch (or corrugated iron) are used by many rain-forest peoples. Many pastoral nomads build tent structures. The Masai construct rectangular huts using stick frames plastered with cattle dung. Earlier urban civilizations were often influenced by Arab and North African traditions, erecting rectilinear, flat-roofed buildings of mud and stone. The great palace of Benin City, Nigeria, was as large as a European town, with many courts and galleried buildings, shingled roofs, and high towers sporting bronze birds. Yoruba towns maintain the traditional afin (palace) at the center, from which broad roads radiate; though the architecture is now often Westernized, traditional courtyards and high surrounding walls persist; the substantial palace buildings had open verandas supported by caryatid pillars. Prominent in many West African towns are the mosques, bristling with wood reinforcement. Though monumental temple architecture is rare, spiritual symbolism may pervade dwellings.
