Zulu dwelling Architecture South Africa’s nine provinces set the geography for over sixty million people, among them, the Zulu, who live mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, located on the country's eastern seaboard. They form South Africa's largest single ethnic group, small numbers also live in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique. For the Zulu, the term for "family" (umndeni) includes all the people staying in a homestead who are related to each other, either by blood, marriage, or adoption. The Zulu homestead (imizi) consisted of an extended family and others attached to the household through social obligations. This social unit was largely self-sufficient, with responsibilities divided according to gender. Each homestead captures land that is distinct from its neighbours. Entering the homestead from the lower part of its typography, invoke one with a sense of humility. The homestead interior order is dictated by the family hierarchy, each dwelling with its unique set of programs is constructed and placed in a form of a large stockaded circle, at its centre, an enclosure for keeping livestock at its zenith – the man’s dwelling. Each beehive-shaped, grass dome composed of rope, lattice, thatch, and wooden stripes, is built from a series of concentric half circles of lath set into the ground to form a dome of the required diameter according to its intended use. The lath is tied with grass, and then the whole is thatched from the bottom up, leaving space for a low doorway. The interior space might show a series of posts, depending on the size of the space, at its centre is a fireplace, made of mud and a termite mound. Some of the huts show at their rear a small shrine for offerings dedicated to ancestors. A conception of order with a strict spatial arrangement exists in the occupation of the dwelling - women use the left part of the space and men, the space to the right. Within this basic division, there are further specific spaces that people of different statuses occupy. #zuluarchitecture #southafricanarchitecture #africa #africantypology #adjayeafricaarchitecture #adjayevisualresearch #adjayeresearch #africansustainability #africareference