Roofing in Somalia

Somalia has two old roofing traditions. Pastoral nomads live in the aqal, a portable dome hut whose woven mats form both roof and walls. Along the coast and in the north, stone towns grew from the medieval period, with coral-stone, lime-washed buildings in Mogadishu and stone houses with flat roofs in ruined towns of the interior.

Climate and hazards

Somalia is mostly hot and arid or semi-arid. The aqal is tied down so that strong winds cannot lift it, and its lowest mat can be removed in hot weather for ventilation.

Roofing history

Early stone towns. At the ruined medieval towns of Amud and Abasa, 15th-century stone houses were entered from the roof, which was very likely flat and reached by steps that have since disappeared. After the arrival of Islam, building shifted from dry stone toward coral stone, sun-dried brick and limestone.

Mogadishu. The old districts of Hamar Weyne and Shangani were built as close-packed whitewashed buildings of two to four storeys, finished with lime plaster and built partly of coral stone; old houses had wooden roof beams. Masjid Jaama'a, one of Mogadishu's oldest mosques, is dated to 1238 AD. The Fakr ad-Din Mosque of 1269, of marble and coral stone, uses composite beams with two main columns to carry its roof.

Colonial period. Italian colonial rule added classical-style buildings in Mogadishu such as Villa Somalia and the Governor's Palace.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Aqal: dome of bent saplings tied to central poles and covered with woven mats (see Aqal).
• Stone and coral houses: roofs on timber beams in Mogadishu; the 15th-century stone houses of Amud were probably flat-roofed.

Roofing today

In Mogadishu's old town, one local author criticises later tile cladding on old walls for changing their whitewashed appearance.

Notable roofs

• Hamar Weyne, Mogadishu: old coral-stone and lime district with mosques dating to the 13th century.
• Fakr ad-Din Mosque (1269): early example of a composite-beam roof.

Local roofing terms

• aqal: portable dome hut.
• udub: central poles of the aqal.
• heego: ring of saplings forming the aqal's dome.

Sources and gaps

No national building or roofing code was found in published sources. No information on domestic roofing manufacturers was found.

Details of coral-stone roof construction (for example the use of mangrove poles, as on the wider Swahili coast) are not documented for Somalia in published sources, nor were modern roof-material shares.