Editing Africa (section)

=== Architecture ===

African architecture includes ancient monuments, vernacular building traditions, religious structures, royal palaces, fortified settlements, stone cities, earth architecture, coastal trading towns, colonial buildings, modern urban towers, and informal settlement design.

Important architectural traditions include ancient Egyptian monuments, Nubian pyramids, Aksumite stelae, Ethiopian rock-hewn churches, Sudano-Sahelian mosques, Swahili stone towns, Great Zimbabwe, North African medinas, royal compounds in West Africa, and modern city architecture.

Building materials vary by region. They include stone, mudbrick, fired brick, timber, thatch, coral stone, clay, metal, concrete, and glass. Climate, religion, trade, security, and social organization have strongly influenced architectural form.