World

The struggle to preserve Kenya's historic architecture

Name: The struggle to preserve Kenya's historic architecture
Uploaded: 2018-05-24T04:00:01.138Z
Duration: 3 min 28 s
Channel: Financial Times
Description: Colonial buildings are decaying — but not everyone wants to save them

John Aglionby's great grandfather Edward Powys Cobb settled in Kenya with his family in 1909. The home Cobb built at Keringet, in the Great Rift Valley, still stands — but like much of the country's colonial architecture, it is vulnerable to decay.

May 24, 2018

Produced by Natalie Whittle and Hannah Bishop. Filmed by Adriane Ohanesian. Edited by Oliver McGuirk.

Transcript

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My great-grandfather built this house in 1910, and experts say that what's unique about it is the combination of its size and age. What's heartening both for me, but more importantly for Kenya, is that the current owner is determined to preserve it as best he can in its original condition.

I want to do some renovation. If I get enough funds, I'll- As you can see, I'm going on. I'm continually doing something, doing something. But eventually, I want it just the way it is. I want it to look just original. I don't want to make some additional. I don't want to add anything. This is the house that was given by my father.

Yeah.

This is like a gift to me.

While the original outlines of my great-grandfather's house are clearly visible, the difficulty people have in obtaining and enforcing preservation orders means it is very unlikely that there will be many century-old buildings like this still around in Kenya in another hundred years.

A nation without a history, which is a nation without a soul. You have to have a history of what you want to remember. So for Kenyans and for Kenya itself, we need to have that memory. Agriculture, there's education, there's health. And all these are competing other needs for the nation. So monuments are not a priority. We are starting to see a positive response from the Kenyans, more because now they seem to be understanding more about their history and accepting that history.

Kenya has a very interesting collection of architectural pieces. This is an example of an early wealthy settlers family arriving in Kenya, and they built a house like their fathers would be proud of. It's a part of Kenyan history. There's a growing interest in old architecture in Kenya, 20th century architecture in Kenya among educated people. They are more aware of the significance for modern Kenya.

In a country where there are lots of other needs, it is indeed difficult to preserve history. We have to start creating awareness on why it's important to protect these old buildings. But I am optimistic that this can be done because it's so worthwhile. There are so many people who are interested. And it's so important to do it. There's an increasing amount of interest in it, and it is history, and it's vital we preserve it.