Houses can be made of anything from cow dung, which has multiple uses, these chic houses made of mud, wood or concrete. Apparently you can even 3D print a house (I have tried repeatedly to grasp the idea behind the 3D printer and have as yet been unsuccessful.)
Being a former NY girl, I am mostly familiar with wood construction. And drywall- the stuff between the wood that makes up the walls. You can easily put a nail in drywall. As opposed to concrete. You can put a nail in concrete, just not easily. Concrete seems to be the material of choice here in Abidjan (actually touted at this school- yes, a school for concrete- as "the most commonly used building material on the planet" of which "most of the infrastructure of modern civilization has been built with...") Seeing the signs of construction all around has completely changed my idea of the material.
Previously, I'd considered concrete to be a strong, permament material. Solid. In Congo, there were often piles of rubble- results of police coming along to tear buildings down. I'd look at those piles of rubble and think only solidly of how destroyed that building was. Mostly because I'd had little chance to see the opposite side of things- the building up. Now I know that buildings go up as easily as they can come down- and that all kinds of changes can be made in the middle process. Modifications, additions. Nothing is ever really as permament as it seems.
The first clue that someone is planning a bit of home remodeling is the twin piles- sand and rock. Streets in my neighborhood are often crowded with piles such as these just outside the gates. I've come to understand that even those things which give the appearance of being indestructible and everlasting may be operating under a faux persona. It's forced me to see with new eyes, noticing the impermanence underlying even the most substanial of things.
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| A sand pile signifies construction |
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| There had been twin piles here but the rock one is already gone |
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| A major remodeling job- the gate is torn down. They are getting a second story as well as interior work. |
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| They had twin piles, gone now. Appear to be getting a second story over the garage. Work is halted, another common sight. | ||
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| The remanents of a stone pile |
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| Square doors, round windows |
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| Bamboo supports, always bamboo supports |
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| These bamboo supports look like a work of art |
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| A finished apartment building next to an empty lot. Abidjan is filled withsights like this- open country pierced by one odd brand new building in the middle of it all |
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| Scaffolding |
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| Interior bamboo supports |
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| An "older" building next to one in the process of going up |
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| Rubble- this used to be a house in the process of "going up" Several houses in this neighborhood of construction were marked. The police showed up and knocked them all down for non payment of taxes. It won't be long before they are cleared away and built back up again. | |
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| People who were already living here (or squatting, I can never actually figure this out- early renters? or just hanging around until the real renters show up?) have to find a new place to live. Some of their things can be seen amidst the rubble |
