Typical brick houses with columns and west-facing veranda, near Antananarivo
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The distribution of traditional construction materials in Madagascar presents a predominance of earthen dwellings in the central Highlands and largely plant-based construction along the coasts, with intermediary zones making use of both material types.
The architecture of Madagascar is unique in Africa, bearing strong resemblance to the construction norms and methods of Southern Borneo from which the earliest inhabitants of Madagascar are believed to have immigrated. Throughout Madagascar, the Kalimantan region of Borneo and Oceania, most traditional houses follow a rectangular rather than round form, and feature a steeply sloped, peaked roof supported by a central pillar.
Differences in the predominant traditional construction materials used serve as the basis for much of the diversity in Malagasy architecture. Locally available plant materials were the earliest materials used and remain the most common among traditional communities. In intermediary zones between the central highlands and humid coastal areas, hybrid variations have developed that use cob and sticks. Wood construction, once common across the island, declined as a growing human population destroyed greater swaths of virgin rainforest for slash and burn agriculture and zebu cattle pasture. The Zafimaniry communities of the central highland montane forests are the only Malagasy ethnic group who have preserved the island's original wooden architectural traditions; their craft was added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003.
As wood became scarce over time, wooden houses became the privilege of the noble class in certain communities, as exemplified by the homes of the Merina nobility in the 19th century Kingdom of Madagascar. The use of stone as a building material was traditionally limited to the construction of tombs, a significant feature of the cultural landscape in Madagascar due to the prominent position occupied by ancestors in Malagasy cosmology. The island has produced several distinct traditions in tomb architecture: among the Mahafaly of the southwest coast, the top of tombs may be stacked with the skulls of sacrificed zebu and spiked with aloalo, decoratively carved tomb posts, while among the Merina, aristocrats historically constructed a small wooden house on top of the tomb to symbolize their andriana status and provide an earthly space to house their ancestors' spirits.
Traditional styles of architecture in Madagascar have been impacted over the past two hundred years by the increasing influence of European styles. A shift toward brick construction in the Highlands began during the reign of Queen Ranavalona II (1868–1883) based on models introduced by missionaries of the London Missionary Society and contacts with other foreigners. Foreign influence further expanded following the collapse of the monarchy and French colonization of the island in 1896. Modernization over the past several decades has increasingly led to the abandonment of certain traditional norms related to the external orientation and internal layout of houses and the use of certain customary building materials, particularly in the Highlands. Among those with means, foreign construction materials and techniques – namely imported concrete, glass and wrought iron features – have gained in popularity, to the detriment of traditional practices.
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