Tafaria Castle: architecture as a metaphor for social, economic and environmental conquest

When one comes upon Tafaria Castle, there is a sense of incredulity – what is a European medieval building doing in rural Kenya? The structure is not very large but its location at the crest of a long climb, which goes on towards the Aberdare Range, makes it imposing. The land surrounding the castle was once a white-owned ranch during Kenya’s colonial period but has now been settled by many Kenyan families including that of the castle's owner. It is his life’s story that lends meaning to the architecture of Tafaria Castle.

Tafaria Castle - the Aberdare Range is in the background (photo by the author)

George Tafaria Waititu’s family settled in the area in 1980, the pioneer Africans to do so, when he had just began school. One of nine siblings brought up by a single mother, he spent his early years here, walking to and from school, herding livestock, fetching water and doing the chores expected of most rural folk. Being the only life he knew, growing up was fun and there was plenty of time to play and dream, notwithstanding the modest home, physical exertion and remoteness of the area. “We had a lot of dreams and amazingly, we always dreamt of wanting to transform or change this place, never mind that one would have no idea how that would be done,” he told me during an interview in 2012, a few months before the opening.

I had just returned to Nairobi from a visit to the construction site and that incredulity had driven me ask for an explanation of what he was building and why. There was no doubt that a lot of thinking had gone into the design of the main and surrounding buildings and grounds but the medieval theme seemed totally out of place.

Kenya is not known for good architecture; the country is strewn with pretentious mimicry and frankly ugly and dangerous buildings. One just needs to visit the financial and corporate heartland of Upper Hill, Nairobi, to see the uglification of Kenya. In the lower part of that hill, at the corner of Bunyala and Lower Hill Roads, stand two of the most hideous edifices – the Co-op Trust Tower and Imperial Bank Building. You would have thought that after Kencom House, a battleship run aground smack in the middle of the city in 1978, we would have hit the bottom of the creative trough especially when this monstrosity is seen against the iconic Kenyatta International Conference Centre of five years earlier; but these two more recent buildings and many more coming up around the country illustrate that we are not done yet.

It has not always been this way. Two recent books, A brief tour of the buildings of Nairobi by Yuko Iwatani and Evelyne Wanjiku, self-published in 2010, and Nairobi in pictures: political icons 1899-2000 by Dr. Lydia Muthuma, published by Focus Publications in 2013, illustrate that poor architectural taste is a contemporary Kenyan affliction – we were designing much better up to around 1981 when the elegant Co-operative House in Nairobi was completed. There have been a few exceptions since – the Coca-Cola Building (2008) and Geminia Insurance Plaza (2008) in Upper Hill are notable departures from this downward spiral but one just has to be confronted by Nation Centre (1991) and the I&M Bank Tower (2001) in the city centre to be reminded of this persistent condition. As such, when you come face to face with Tafaria Castle, the instinct is to see it in light of this trend.

A metaphor is when you appropriate a discourse and apply it in a new or unfamiliar context, for example, using road traffic symbols to illustrate the route to good health; here, the road signs become metaphors for wellbeing. Such rhetorical devices are used to present something in a new and refreshing way with the objective of creating impact and ultimately to persuade. This is the lens through which an appreciation of Tafaria Castle is made possible.

Castles are a European invention, dating back to the 10^th century and originally built as fortified defences. They were usually erected after an area had been conquered and due to this military origin, their prevalence is a historical marker of warfare. Waititu’s dream is to transform the “harsh” environment he grew up in. His means is not war but rather, social, economic and environmental investments with the aim of improving human and physical conditions. Tafaria Castle is the symbol of this intention – the mark of social, economic and environmental conquest; when viewed in this manner, it no longer appears out of place.