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When I was a child in the late 1960s and early 1970s I lived in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, and Accra and travelled across Africa, from east to west, marvelling at the range and splendour of the continents architecture. It was not the easiest time to experience Africas architectural glories. But I was left with an enduring desire to understand the nature of African buildings and their origins and whether they came into being through expedience, their relationship to colonial power, economics, self belief or self identity. 上世纪60年代末70年代初，当我还是个孩子时，我先后居住在达累斯萨拉姆、内罗毕和阿克拉。从东到西，我的足迹遍及整个非洲大陆，我为非洲建筑的丰富多样和绚丽恢宏所折服。当时并不是易于感受非洲建筑之辉煌的时期，但后来我一直希望了解非洲建筑的本质及其起源，以及在它们的发展形成过程中，方便性、它们与殖民势力的关系、经济学、自信、自我认同等因素是否起到了重要作用。 It is a passion that has never left me. In the past decade I have documented the 53 capitals of the continent in a bid to understand how regional geography and tradition transcend state boundaries. In that time I have researched the great pyramids of Giza, the temples of Luxor, Libyas Roman ruins at Leptis Magna, the stone walls of great Zimbabwe, the Buganda shrine of Uganda, the medieval Islamic architecture of Fes and Marrakech in Morocco, Ethiopias churches carved into the rock in Lalibela and much more. | 
