In north-eastern Togo and in part of Benin, some houses seem to have always been there.

The takienta, sikien in the plural, are a fiercely guarded secret of the Batammariba, a people whose name means “those who shape the earth” in Ditammari. Their rounded forms, earthen walls, turrets, terraces and conical roofs have earned them international renown.

But to look at these houses only as an architectural curiosity is to miss the essential point. In Koutammakou, a house also tells of a way of inhabiting the world.

A place designed for living, but not only

The takienta is above all a family home. Yet its function does not end with domestic use. Often two storeys high, it is a dwelling that is at once technical, practical and symbolic. Its shape, its different spaces and its organisation answer several needs of daily life, but also a very particular context.

It is estimated that the Batammariba settled in the valley around the 11th century to escape a past marked by conflict with warlords of imperial ambition. The fortified look of the sikien is therefore not merely decorative.

The ground floor can house the animals, while the family sleeps upstairs. The granaries lead to the terraces and also serve as watchtowers to spot the possible arrival of enemies. The house is thus directly part of an agricultural society, where housing, daily activities and the environment are closely linked. But the takienta also has a spiritual dimension.

It can be associated with ancestor worship and various ritual practices. Some houses even act as true religious spaces. In other words, the house takes part in organising the social and spiritual world.

An architecture that tells the story of a society

The traditional dwelling remains a living model. Everywhere in the region, it is clear that the life cycle of buildings goes on: construction, abandonment, destruction and rebuilding on the ruins.

The materials change as time goes by, but the traditional model endures because the takienta is more than a dwelling: it is a temple dedicated to the ancestors. Indeed, even the ground-floor space reserved for animals and the granaries on the terrace remain indispensable elements.

It is not unusual to find in the region so-called “modern” houses completed by a traditional dwelling which, even if smaller, keeps all its architectural characteristics and its intangible dimensions. Koutammakou as a whole includes several thousand inventoried sikien, of which 1,400 are still inhabited on the Beninese side and 1,716 in Togo.

Among the Batammariba, natural spaces take part in social life, beliefs and ritual practices, and are an extension of the home. This relationship also explains why UNESCO speaks of Koutammakou as a “living cultural landscape”. The region is an evolving landscape representative of an agricultural society working in harmony with its surroundings, where nature underpins beliefs, rites and daily life.

What is preserved here is therefore not only a remarkable vernacular architecture. It is also know-how, farming practices, beliefs, songs, dances, social rules and a particular relationship with the land.

To build is also to pass on

A traditional architecture does not survive only because its walls are solid. It survives because people still know how to build it, maintain it, use it and give it meaning.

In Koutammakou, the conservation of the takienta thus depends on the transmission of local building traditions and the use of local materials. Keeping these houses standing is directly tied to keeping traditional practices alive.

This means that we can also lose some of the uses, symbols and practices that gave the building its meaning…

An evolving heritage

It would be a mistake, however, to imagine Koutammakou as a territory frozen in the past. Modern dwellings exist today alongside the traditional takienta. Ways of life are changing, materials are evolving and the effects of climate change are being felt.

But traditional practices also continue. UNESCO notes in particular that rites of passage and certain social rules remain rooted in Batammariba society.

This is perhaps where one of the most important lessons of Koutammakou lies. Preserving a heritage does not necessarily mean preventing change.

What does this house really tell us?

Looking only at its shape, the takienta appears as an original earthen house with turrets and granaries. Looking at its organisation, we discover something else.

Its architecture is adapted to an agricultural society. Its different spaces are each tied to specific domestic functions. It keeps a particular relationship with the ancestors and ritual practices, defines rules for organising the land, and exemplifies the perfect transmission of a whole people’s know-how.

The Batammariba have lived in the Koutammakou region for hundreds of years. In a cruel irony of history, this region, once considered a unified territory before the colonial powers divided Togo and Benin, is today only half protected.

Indeed, the Togolese part of Koutammakou has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004, while the Beninese part still has no official protection.