- Hi, I'm Sam Williams and I'm an Architectural Researcher.
Today we're gonna take a look at the architectural details
of the Kingdom of Wakanda,
from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
[playful music]
The first time Wakanda's, location is hinted at
in an Easter egg in, "Iron Man 2,"
showing on a map in Eastern Africa.
We get a glimpse of the kingdom at the end of,
"Captain America: Civil War," but we got our first real look
at Wakanda in the movie, "Black Panther."
[orchestral music]
So Birnin Zana is the capital of the Kingdom of Wakanda,
also known as, "The Golden City."
So right away I notice that this is a vast, sprawling city
with a skyline that's a mix of contemporary
and more traditional architectural styles.
It's surrounded on all sides by a mountain range.
There's a river flowing through it,
and a central tower that peaks out.
The city does not seem to be based on a grid,
and instead it seems to follow the contours
of the natural features that form the city.
So the city's setting within nature
sort of reminds me of Nairobi in Kenya.
So in recent years, Nairobi has experienced explosive growth
and the government has found it important
to impose development restrictions
so that development does not encroach
upon the nature preserves.
And here you see there's a very similar logic
being employed where the city is very tightly contained,
even allowing elements of nature to blend in
without fully sprawling into the surrounding environment.
So the skyline that we see here also reminds me
a lot of Johannesburg,
where there is, sort of, this central tower
and the rest of the city is sort of unfocused and sprawling.
A lot of the recent growth in Johannesburg
is largely uncontrolled, which is why you're seeing
a lot of the high-rises placed next to low-rises,
and they're just trying to fit them wherever they can.
And the fact that this is completely surrounded by mountains
is a direct reference to the Kingdom of Lesotho,
which is surrounded by the Maluti Mountains,
which is what the director Ryan Coogler
said inspired this setting.
So I can see a lot of recognizable western styles.
And also the production designer mentioned that Zaha Hadid
inspired quite a bit of the billing design.
Something that's completely evident in this photo
is how advanced and futuristic the city looks.
Marvel really loves the solarpunk aesthetic.
The idea behind solarpunk is what happens
if we solve all the world's problems?
There is no hunger, there is no war,
and there's no threat from global catastrophe
or climate change or anything like that.
- But not by magic, by technology.
- Obviously, but I've never seen it this
efficient.
- Here is very much a really clear example
of how nature in a city can blend together
after we solve a lot of the other ecological issues
that we may experience during industrialization.
Something else I find pretty notable about this image
is that despite the sprawling nature of the city,
it seems like there's no massive highway,
there's no car-oriented infrastructure.
It all seems to be just tied directly into nature,
and it just sort of indicates
that this is a very walkable place,
and very tied together by public transportation
of some sort.
So while The Golden City is very impressive from the sky,
you can also see on the ground level
how there is a mix of uses and how the people live.
Next up is The Citadel of Birnin Zana.
So right away I noticed
that this entire complex sort of hugs this waterfront,
and it's blending the city with nature.
Here we also have these terraced steps
that surround the building.
Surrounding the base of the building,
you see some of these, sort of, modular structures
and they're very reminiscent
of some of the informal sediments that we see
throughout Africa where the buildings are, sort of,
added on as needed.
We can also seek similarities to
The Great Mosque of Djenné and Djinguereber,
which were commissioned around the 13th century
by King Musa, who is considered to be
one of the wealthiest people to ever live.
Some of these similarities include, sort of,
these towering sources with these bundles of sticks
called torons, which is used to help maintain a building
and also provides reinforcement similar to concrete rebar.
And they provide a nice decorative aspect.
We have this sky bridge, which are flanked
by these two towers, which reminds me of minarets
that you see on the Great Mosque,
where they, sort of, jut out in the similarly height scale.
So I'm not quite clear on what material this is built with.
- It's from Wakanda,
and it's made outta Vibranium.
- But further back in here, you can see that
this more directly resembles the mosque and material used
in the construction.
The Great Mosque was constructed using these bricks,
called ferey, which are earthen bricks
that are compacted together and then covered
with the plaster.
So it's clear that they're referencing the mosque here
because those were the most important structures built
in those societies.
And similarly, The Citadel is the most important structure
in the Kingdom of Wakanda.
Next, let's take a closer look at one
of the smaller scale buildings seen in the film.
Right away, I notice this building here is a clear example
where it's, sort of, less contemporary
than the surrounding buildings.
It has a thatch roof, and it has, sort of,
this golden material and pattern
that's alluding to some of the cultural examples
throughout Africa.
This is very clearly a reference to some of the Tata Castles
that we see in Western Africa.
They have very similar proportions to some of the castles
that we see in Scotland from the 16th century,
where there are several, sort of, towers
that are flanking this central volume and entryway.
The main structure is clearly made of regolith,
similar to the mosque that we see earlier.
However, those structures are a bit further north
than where these are.
And so as you move further south throughout Africa,
you're starting to see the introduction of the thatch roof.
The turrets that we see at the castle examples
are also taken and separated into their own residences.
And these are Tata standalone structures.
Elsewhere in the film we we see these
Tata standalone structures, which are less adorned
than the example that we saw in this image.
This is still located in the city
and is very much in contrast to the other example
that we see, which is in a more rural context
and much more low-tech.
What I like about this shot
is that it clearly shows a very recognizable building form
in the African vernacular.
This, sort of, indicates the diversity of cultures
that are represented in Wakanda,
and also the power that exists in the main capital.
You can see this idea of social cohesion and representation
in layout of the city.
Right away you can see that the city has a circular layout
as opposed to a grid, and it follows this river valley
and these other secondary valleys that stem out
from the surrounding mountain range.
In the middle you see this moat
and there are several circular buildings
that are evenly spaced surrounding The Citadel.
And this reminds me quite a bit of the Zulu enclosures.
At the scale of the community,
these Zulu enclosures are really the single-room residences
that are surrounding a larger courtyard.
And this is largely so that each member of the family
gets their own private space,
with some expectation of participating
within a larger community.
Seeing this singular civic space at the center of the city
definitely reminds me of the Zulu compounds
and their enclosures.
You can see that similarly in Wakanda,
that there are several tribes that make up the kingdom
but they are somewhat autonomous.
But they are still expected to participate
in these more communal decision making.
- Tell me how to best protect Wakanda.
- [T'Chaka] You need to surround yourself
with people you trust.
- The Production Designer, Hannah Beachler,
traveled all around Africa to get an idea of how
various communities were laid out.
And so this is how you get this example
of this circular formation with this massive importance
of the civic institutions in the center.
[rhythmic music]
Now let's look at a building outside of the city center.
Right away what stands out to me
are these intricate patterns that are carved
into the structure.
It also seems to just merge from the mountain
and is made of the mountain with the base being a bit wider,
more pyramidal, and also being surrounded by waterfalls.
And this verticality seems to be emphasized here.
These intricate patterns very much remind me of
the Kano house, which could be found in Nigeria.
What's fun about this is that the Kano house
really allowed each individual family
to express their unique identity,
and it's sort of their own version of the coat of arms
that you could find throughout other parts of the world.
So the Kano houses look very different
than some of the other styles that we've seen.
And this is because these are usually built
by upper and middle class families.
Those with more means can also have the ability
to individually express their wealth using these patterns.
So the patterns that we see here in the Kano houses
are also evident in the costume designs from Ruth Carter.
And really similarly to the Kano houses,
each of the costumes are meant to represent a specific tribe
and a very unique identity.
So this is one of the styles that has been built
historically throughout Nigeria,
but you're starting to see these appear again
in the upper middle classes to harken back
to the roots of the area.
- Wakanda forever!
- Those are just some of the architectural details
that I notice, which makes Wakanda
so unique and interesting.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.