Architecture of Guyana
Little remains of pre-Columbian Guyanese architecture. The
indigenous people built almost exclusive from wood, although other natural resources
were also used. Their building uses were also extremely limited in scope and nearly
all construction was built for housing. Along the coast many of the houses were
built on platforms in trees, perhaps to avoid the rains and flooding.
With the arrival of the Europeans came architectural styles from
Europe. The first and most important architecture introduced came from the
Dutch, who introduced land architecture as a means to
lessen the flooding and to give the people more solid land as they built dikes and
complex irrigation systems.
In the way of buildings themselves, the only native adaptation made from
European styles was using the local wood as forests were plentiful and provided
good building materials for the European settlers. Although bricks were used in
limited numbers, they were generally too expensive so wood was almost exclusively
used. Most of these early homes had verandahs to compliment the weather in
Guyana and many of the homes the slaves lived in during the colonial days
mimicked these European-styled homes, but tended to be smaller and simpler. The
style of choice at this time was the Dutch Palladian
style.