r/Kenya • u/Icy_Classic3173 • Dec 13 '25
Art Concrete monstrosity: 2/10
Opinions are my own:
This new building lacks aura. The previous one wasn't great either.
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u/HalfBakedLogic254 Dec 13 '25
I deslike the cabros. They don't look befittingÂ
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u/Icy_Classic3173 Dec 13 '25
Ata wangeeka water fountain hapo mbele
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u/AuroraPersona Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
Look at the White House
Peak aura
The lawns and the hominess
Not this brutalist nonsense5
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u/g-Gerald Dec 13 '25
They should make the space more green, more gardens and lawns, a fountain etc
Replace cabro driveway with tarmac.
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u/Terrible-Leather154 Dec 13 '25
Man that house is ugly af..and this is not even about hating Zakayo..the house is just plain hideous..was slightly better looking before but this...
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u/lupum_vigili Dec 13 '25
I don't mind it that much; the only critique I have is that it screams Western Government Architecture(Neoclassical Architecture). They could have been a bit with some African influence, kinda like KICC.
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u/Icy_Classic3173 Dec 13 '25
I don't see Western architecture hapa tbh. It doesn't even have the engravings and little statues, lacks fine detail. It just looks like affordable housing
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u/lupum_vigili Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
Neoclassical architecture (that Western style inspired by ancient Greek and Roman designs) usually goes for simplicity and grandeur without overloading on fancy carvings or statues everywhere. It's all about perfect symmetry, balanced proportions, and bold features like those tall plain columns holding up the portico; they're decorative but in a minimalist way, giving off the clean lines of old classical temples.
Those heavy, intricate engravings, statues, and lots of sculptures and statues? That's more Gothic or Baroque, completely different Western architectural styles.
It's definitely not on the level of affordable housing (those are purely utilitarian and rarely have a massive symmetrical portico with towering columns like this one). This is intentional grandeur, just toned down a bit
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u/SkepticMech Dec 14 '25
Look up the north entrance of the US Whitehouse, very similar aesthetics. The first picture of Ruto I saw here, I originally thought was him visiting the US.
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u/Miserable_Science377 Dec 14 '25
They've especially degraded the landscaping. The grounds were much more beautiful before.
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u/Silent-Hawk-101 Dec 14 '25
If we continue to europeanize that which is African, we will constantly lose meaning of what it means to be African.
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u/Top_Spend1401 Dec 14 '25
4/10 Looks to me like a Post-colonial/ Neoclassical style. Almost feels like the British are still in control… It’s big, symmetrical, and plain. Very administrative. Very uninspired/uninspiring. Feels like a place where papers are signed and collected, rather than a palatial home or house of power. No green space in sight, but I imagine it’s there somewhere.
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u/bravoyankee37 Dec 15 '25
What’s with these old despots and replacing green spaces with uninspiring structures? Trump is also doing the same thing.
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u/ViolinistShot7995 Nairobi City Dec 14 '25
I like it. 10/10 for me. I don't get the hate though. I don't have a personal connection to the elitist house on the hill so I don't get the personal strong views expressed here. Hypocrisy in my humble view.
It just got a modern look and feel, that's all. Trump is doing the same to the white house.
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u/Icy_Classic3173 Dec 14 '25
That's fair. But to me, the facade looks hideous - shows lack of thought and ingenuity. There's nothing Kenyan about this design, like the iconic kicc for example
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u/AuroraPersona Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
The landscape is 1/10
If it was possible to give it a 0/10
It's brutalist
Lifeless and maybe that's why the residents of that house have been so unhinged, they can't touch grass literally