The Tortoise and the Hut

he men of old were born like the wild beasts. In woods, caves, and groves, they lived on food gathered in the fi elds, " wrote Marcus Vitruvius Pollio more than 2,000 years ago in his well-known account of classical traditions in architecture. One day, a dense group of trees, agitated by winds and storms, caught fi re. Humans nearby ran from the fl ames but then, attracted to the warmth, began to draw near. They tried to keep the fl ames going and brought others to see them. As they shared the discovery, they gestured, made sounds with their voices, and started to articulate words. Society and language had begun. " As they kept coming together in greater numbers into one place, they began… to construct shelters " dug in on the sides of mountains, roofed with boughs, or made of twigs and mud like bird nests. They observed each other's efforts and made improvements. " At fi rst they wove their walls with upright forked props and drove twigs between them…. When in winter-time the huts could not withstand the rains, they made their roofs sloping and projected and, smeared with clay, the ridged roofs drew off the rain water. " Such were the origins of architecture, rooted in human needs and natural surroundings: a pitched roof made of living materials shaped to more or less resemble a turtle. And apart from its obvious economy and effi ciency, the dwelling has endured as a symbol of ecologic equilibrium, made to conform to nature and fi t in with the landscape. From the construction of huts, humans progressed to other arts and sciences. With time, harmonious alignment of dwelling with nature and form with function has not always kept pace. Yet, spatial relationships, the way forms interact with those who use them and their surroundings, have remained a main consideration not only in architecture but all the arts and no less so in painting. This consideration as it pertains to color is very prominent in the work of East African painter Salum Kambi, whose work The Village Hut graces this month's issue. Kambi was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a culturally diverse nation with more than 120 ethnic groups and rich artistic traditions going back to prehistoric times. A talented youth, he sought opportunities everywhere. " I entered a competition related to research on chimpanzees in the Gombe …