Waterhouses: Landscapes, Housing, and the Making of Modern Lagos

Waterhouses is a sweeping history of urban change in Lagos, Nigeria, that explores how its landscapes of waterways and houses have shaped the modern city. It argues that housing architectures were the single most important social, material, and political instruments for people hoping to contour the city's landscapes and its historical course. The book's chapters encompass six eras and six waterscapes, and explores how people saw and attempted to remake Lagos's environs in a process that invariably involved housing architectures. It traces the relationship between Lagos's residential spaces and its urban landscapes across the rise, fall, and aftermath of British colonization, and offers urban planners, policy makers, and architects ideas for how the definingly human act of inhabiting a place might be grounded in practices of continuous custodianship rather than extractive possession.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 27 August 2024
Publisher: Ohio University Press

Lagos, Nigeria, has undergone significant urban change over the past two centuries, and its landscapes of waterways and houses have played a crucial role in shaping the modern city. Waterhouses: The Places the People of Lagos Have Inhabited, Imagined, and Made Home for the Past Two Centuries explores this history, asking what a house in Lagos is and how it has been constructed and reconstructed in turn with the city's changing landscapes. Written for historians of African and Atlantic history, scholars and practitioners of urbanism, and anyone looking to make sense of Africa's most populous metropolis today, the book offers an approachable history of how houses and water have formed modern Lagos.

The book argues that housing architectures were the single most important social, material, and political instruments for people hoping to contour the city's landscapes—both its ecology and its image—and its historical course. The forms and meanings of houses in Lagos have shifted dramatically over time and in ways that reveal how power, house making, visual perception, and the environment are entangled in modern cities. The book's chapters encompass six eras and six waterscapes: sandbars, canals, swamps, lagoons, oceans, and floods. These spaces guide the book's exploration of how people saw and attempted to remake Lagos's environs in a process that invariably involved housing architectures.

At its core, Lagos is a city built through the materials, relations, and powers contained in the dry, solid, and hospitable spaces of homes, which have long been scarce and culturally celebrated resources in the city's water-constricted setting. While shelter is integral to any city's development, houses have been particularly important and sought after in Lagos. The book explores the various types of houses in Lagos, including traditional houses, modern houses, and slums, and how they have been shaped by the city's changing landscapes and political systems.

One of the key themes of the book is the impact of colonialism on Lagos's housing architecture. The British colonial government introduced new building regulations and styles that were designed to control the growth of the city and to create a more European-style urban landscape. These regulations and styles had a profound impact on the forms and meanings of houses in Lagos, and they continue to shape the city's housing landscape today.

The book also explores the role of housing in the city's economic development. Housing is a major source of income for many Lagosians, and the city's housing market has been characterized by rapid growth and speculation. However, this growth has also led to a number of social and economic problems, including overcrowding, poverty, and environmental degradation. The book argues that housing policies and practices need to be more responsive to the needs of the city's residents, and that the city needs to invest in infrastructure and services that will improve the quality of life for its citizens.

In addition to its historical and social analysis, Waterhouses: The Places the People of Lagos Have Inhabited, Imagined, and Made Home for the Past Two Centuries also provides a number of practical recommendations for improving the housing landscape in Lagos. The book suggests that the city should invest in affordable housing, improve access to water and sanitation, and promote sustainable development. It also suggests that the city should work to preserve the city's historic buildings and landscapes, and to promote cultural diversity and heritage.

Overall, Waterhouses: The Places the People of Lagos Have Inhabited, Imagined, and Made Home for the Past Two Centuries is a valuable and insightful book that offers a comprehensive history of Lagos's housing architecture and its impact on the city's development. The book is well-written and accessible, and it will be of interest to anyone who is interested in African and Atlantic history, urbanism, or the city's future.

Weight: 400g
Dimension: 216 x 141 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780896803329