Homes in Dialogue with Nature and Culture

How people build and inhabit their homes reflects an ongoing dialogue between environment and identity. Across regions and generations, the materials, structures, and spatial arrangements of dwellings tell stories of resilience, community, and cultural memory. From the rainforest to savannah, mountain to dryland, each home is shaped by its surrounding landscape—and in turn, shapes the way of life within.

In this section, you’ll encounter the Iban longhouses of Borneo, where architecture fosters kinship and collective life beneath the jungle canopy. The Ashanti compounds in Ghana reveal symbolic structures rooted in tradition and authority. In Northern Cameroon, earthen homes speak of ecological adaptation and intergenerational knowledge. The Koi-San shelters of Namibia, minimal and mobile, reflect an intimate understanding of land and season. And in Zimbabwe, domestic spaces reveal both continuity and transformation.