Mali Architecture throu the Eyes of Europeans: the Search for a Prototype

The first written references to architectural structures in Mali date back to the 11th century: al-Bakri and al-Idrisi mention palaces and urban developments. Mungo Park was the first European to describe the architecture of a typical Malian city. The true discoverer of Malian architecture for Europe was Félix Dubois (1862-1945). The idea of an Egyptian origin for Malian architecture had been expressed before him. However, it was Dubois who developed the "ancient Egyptian" hypothesis for the origins of Malian architecture. Currently, this hypothesis has only historiographical significance. Indeed, there is no doubt that Islam did indeed enrich Malian architecture with a new type of building: the mosque. However, the Sudanese style itself clearly developed without the influence of Islam, and even in spite of it. The anthropomorphic (sometimes zoomorphic) nature of the Toucouleurs style clearly indicates this. As for European influence on traditional Malian architecture, it is impossible to identify any traces of it. Attempts to attribute the appearance of pointed arches to European influence, which is the only argument in favor of the latter, prove untenable. The works of Engeström, Denyer, and many other researchers examine the architecture of Mali and all of West Africa quite objectively. But another trend existed in parallel, and continues to exist, articulated with utmost clarity by Maurice Delafosse: someone "introduced the blacks to 'Sudanese' architecture, and before that they had built only clay huts with conical thatched roofs." And it didn’t matter who the cultural bearers were who brought developed architectural traditions to West Africa – anyone, but not the Africans themselves.