Bridging Heritage Management and Architectural Education in Tanzania: Insights from the Reconstruction of the House of Wonders, Zanzibar

Abstract

Effective conservation of built cultural heritage in Tanzania requires specialized architectural competencies insufficiently addressed in current professional training and architectural education. This study uses the reconstruction of the House of Wonders in Stone Town, Zanzibar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to examine the competency demands of heritage conservation practice. Rather than presenting a comprehensive national curriculum evaluation, the study uses the reconstruction of the House of Wonders as a context-specific case that makes broader educational and professional challenges visible. The research adopted a qualitative case study approach based on semi-structured interviews with six key stakeholders involved, including an architect, structural and safety engineers, a quantity surveyor, a historian, and an artisan. Thematic analysis revealed significant gaps between conventional architectural curricula and the realities of conservation practice. Findings indicate that architects must assume expanded roles beyond design, including documentation, materials conservation, regulatory compliance, interdisciplinary coordination, and community engagement, which are often underemphasized in Tanzanian training. Systemic constraints were also identified, including financial limitations, regulatory inconsistencies, scarcity of traditional materials, reliance on external expertise, and weak institutionalized knowledge transfer. The study recommends strengthening heritage-oriented architectural education and professional training by integrating conservation competencies, digital technologies, and structured capacity-building mechanisms.

Keywords: Swahili heritage; Conservation governance; Heritage competencies; Interdisciplinary conservation; Stone Town; Built cultural heritage