Macuti House

The macuti house is the traditional dwelling of the Island of Mozambique, off northern Mozambique. Its name comes from macuti (also spelled makuti), the coconut palm leaves that originally covered its roof. The southern half of the island, where most residents live, is known as Macuti Town, in contrast to the stone and lime town of the north. Both halves are part of the World Heritage property inscribed in 1991.

Construction

A 2011 study by Silje Eroy Sollien, presented at the ICOMOS General Assembly, describes the house:

• Frame: mangrove poles (siki) and bamboo.
• Roof: a generous hipped canopy carried on two main posts about 2.5 m (8 ft) high and covered with coconut palm leaves.
• Walls: a curtain of vertical mangrove sticks (laca laca) tied together at the centre and filled with stones, earth and sand (pau a pique). A heavier version uses large amounts of stone and lime, approaching a coral-stone double wall with laca laca at its core.
• Additive: an extract of the plant Cissus integrifolia (murrapa) was mixed in for strength and water resistance.

Decline

Since the 1950s, and especially from the late 1970s, new houses on the island have increasingly been built with cement blocks and fibre-cement or corrugated iron roofs. The reasons given are economic and practical: block and sheet-roofed houses have become cheaper and need less maintenance, natural materials and the money to buy them are scarce, many owners cannot afford upkeep, and conventional construction is seen as a sign of development. By the time of the study, under a quarter of houses still had mangrove-based construction and about 35% had macuti or other leaves on the roof. Macarasse leaves, which are easier to find, have largely replaced coconut macuti.

UNESCO notes that after the 1976-1992 war an influx of people caused overcrowding, and that the scarcity and cost of materials have hindered maintenance. Replacing traditional materials with modern ones is identified as a risk to authenticity because house forms and designs have changed.

Related forms

Palm-leaf thatch of the same name, makuti, is used along the East African coast; see Palm thatch.