How Black Panther's Architecture Was Inspired By Real Locations | Architectural Digest

[@littlenest]

Yes he is right, we were in Wakanda last summer and the capital city is very walkable :) but on a serious note it's great that the artists actually incorporated the traditional architecture ♥

[@xBloodGarnetx]

Would love more AD videos about different periods and styles of architecture from the African continent! Whether or not Wakanda related or otherwise.

[@catherinedeandrade]

you should get this guy to do more videos, he has a cool vibe, very calm but still interesting

[@Alrepa]

I went to high school with Sam, very cool

[@WebsonT]

I’m in Wakanda right now and this guy is correct.

[@wildreed21]

My flight is booked for tomorrow. I'm visiting relatives in Wakanda on my father's side. The ones that think they are better than the rest of the family. I'm gonna steal all their sh*t. 😁

[@WebsonT]

@@wildreed21 😂😂

[@cupcakKe_express]

Same

[@FBIINFORMANT]

Greetings from New Asgard

[@Jameenjude]

Same sis same 😂😂😂😂

[@musamusashi]

Writing from Kenya, i feel that the mention of wild animals roaming around in the outskirts of Nairobi may be a bit misleading or confusing. There' a natural park with animals in "spacious captivity" at one edge of the city, and there is where those pics are taken from. In other directions, the city extends with different degrees of means and reguations, like everywhere else, and major wildlife, is nowhere to be found. For the rest, very nice breakdown. Taking my family to see the new one on saturday, in shaa Allah, it came out today, here. Wakanda forever!

[@catherineomondi7850]

Wildlife has been known to disrupt traffic, though. 😆

[@Azulakayes]

I am also from Nairobi and it depends on how you look at it. I know you mean the Nairobi National Park on one end but the Ngong Hills is on there as well as Karura along Limuru/Kiambu. If you look at from a wider perspective, Nairobi is surrounded on some sides by wide ranges of natural flora & fauna with an exception perhaps of Mombasa & Kangundo roads(could be more). So the city doesn't necessarily extend into more commercial/residential spaces as you leave it but equally in a natural setting. We see wildlife of course as you go to the National Park but also in Karen/Ngong, in Peponi/Outskirts of Westlands, in Karura and even near the CBD courtesy of the Michuki Park and that whole stretch to the National Museum and Botanical gardens. So his perspective isn't necessarily misleading.

[@musamusashi]

@@Azulakayes i see your point, and it's true that you can find beautiful natural landscapes on the outskirts of the city, but that specific image suggests wildlife roaming freely at a stone's throw from the city center, which, except for the aforementioned park, it's not the case. This somehow reinforces the often heard stereotypes of Africans having to fight lions on their way to work 😉

[@Azulakayes]

@@musamusashi 😂 These stereotypes are just too much. I remember my first time in Seoul and someone genuinely asking me if we eat lions. An academic by the way, so I don't know if that makes it better or worse. I said yes, lions are absolutely delicious.

[@musamusashi]

@@Azulakayes 🤣 it's unbelievable. And if in the pre internet era, this ignorance could somehow be excused by the scarcity of available mainstream information about the continent, nowadays ignorance is a choice.

[@KevinOyugi]

Absolutely LOVED this dissection. I appreciate you taking us through historical nuances, as well as an exploration of the production design, shot by shot, on this iconic visual homage to African culture and architecture

[@ChaunceBlake]

Sam Williams is my cousin, I've been following his career for years and he has always been a very knowledgeable and hard worker. It's awesome so see him cover architecture from one of my favorite movies. Keep up the great work Sam!!! 😄

[@Rice8003]

Now he's your cousin... 🙄

[@rosswagner3795]

Great insights!! This host, Sam Williams, does a fantastic job eloquently walking us through wakanda. Can’t wait to see more🙌

[@officialcjjohnsonjr]

Insanely interesting. The set designs and locations for Wakanda always stood out to me so I’m glad they’re spotlighting it more

[@zeldamag8381]

I love how Wakanda shows that a city and nature can coexist beautifully.

[@supanovamedia]

Thoroughly insightful and enjoyable watch. Africa is indeed, home to some of the most avant-garde architecture on the planet, some going way back.

[@lekgotlatgae5955]

Wow.. African architecture is underrated asf y'all... the details and how they make things small like the castle (makes me wonder where they even got we even concept for it), portable sometimes..i can see the convenience of it.. but our beloved mud house has never failed us.. Wakanda looks dope, kudos to the designers

[@musamusashi]

Everything African is underrated, brother. But the wind is changing, is our time now!

[@nelsonsibiya9204]

@@musamusashi YES IT IS !!!!!!

[@musamusashi]

@@Deccan-Times you laugh while you should cry about your own ignorance 😪

[@rocketmansapprentice]

So true. I love how they source ideas from the whole continent... and huts will never fail shame.

[@Rownadee5677]

I am shook, south africa is mentioned so little in movies so whenever I see the city I live in I literally get excited.

[@tiatialinakhjavani6000]

Thank you to Architectural digest for bringing such details out of the ordinary watching of the movie. It shows how much care and attention has been given to the values of African architecture to the slightest detail. “God is in the details” kudos to the Producers

[@buntukunene4410]

I saw my city on that thumbnail and you peaked my interest 🇿🇦

[@MizuLis]

This guy is awesome! Love the way he explains details ❤

[@who_stole_my_username]

The photo used to illustrate a 16th century Scottish castle is actually a 14th century English castle called Bodiam Castle, located in the south of England about as far from Scotland as you can get on mainland Great Britain.

[@pascalejacquelinepetit5131]

Very well explained Sam; many thanks for eloquently providing both the context and references. It allows us to see the movie with a greater visual understanding.

[@stevenmoore4078]

This was very interesting. I didn't realize how much thought went into the set design to provide an authentic depiction of the cultural influences.

[@sundalongpatpat]

I'm glad my hometown, Wakanda, is getting it's well deserved recognition.

[@lilroots312]

The spiral overhead shot reminds of the Sankofa bird which reminds us today to look a our history and value you it as move forward which is a lot of what Black Panther was

[@dchristain]

This fascinating, educational, and extremely entertaining!! I'd love to see more of this!

[@LCLoyal]

Sam was phenomenal. Thank you.

[@deniseadams4121]

Love these post. Looking forward to more. Thanks

[@Fran_Fuentes]

Solar punk woah I'm going research about it. Thank you for sharing!

[@jareal]

Sam killed it. Hope to see more videos with him.

[@hannahdigitals]

Saw an early screening of the movie yesterday and absolutely loved it! The set design and costumes really stand out

[@oneoftheskull3158]

The fact they don't have paved roads,... genius. 👌🏾👌🏾

[@bubblerighted7433]

Loved this!! Super insightful

[@GideonOjinnie_3]

I think the building outside the city reminiscent of the kano House found in nigeria attempts to spot Nigeria as either 'away from the pack' or as distinctive as a watch tower guarding/ overlooking the city of wakanda - which makes it very iconic.

[@thalamebibow]

The "tata" is known as "urondo" is Nguni culture. It is where the spirits of the ancestors are believed to be located. It is always separate from the main household and is respected and honored as the altar of the family. It is the family's source of strength and protection. Even after the civilization of most parts in southern Africa, you still see them among the modern architecture. I think that was the reference, not merely the architecture but the spiritual significance of the structure.

[@Chrissieb.rackett]

Yes!! More of Sam!! This was so interesting!

[@Searchingtheworld7183]

Wakanda with the realistic architecture.So unique and impressive...

[@baatile]

At 02:50 you can see Ndebele style house painting on one of the street level buildings.

[@nelsonsibiya9204]

Yes..

[@ojeojeoje1990]

I was in Wakanda yesterday and this guy is correct.

[@약사라NYC]

Interesting! Will be seeing the film tonight at the theater. Can’t wait to watch it 😊

[@madisone.1284]

I think Wakanda is amazing. I watched this video with my sister and we loved it. You are very knowledgeable and I look forward to more analyses on movies like these! Amazing.

[@Bling_The_Visual_Creator]

You did your research well... I'm impressed

[@803MUSICGROUP]

I subbed because of Sam.....Great video....hope to see more from him here soon!!!

[@laszloszebegyinszki5825]

Respect for the academic approach 🙏 ❤

[@Prodigious1One]

Great analysis.

[@johnbarrow7639]

It's nice that they use actual historic African sites to inspire what the Golden City should look like

[@d.w.1986]

LOVE this! So interesting!

[@beatricewells7158]

Loved this!

[@_jennem_]

This was so fascinating

[@andrewmutavi590]

Awesome video,been thinking about African architecture being reborn with modern day engineering together with Permaculture principles

[@anitamuhammad3968]

Thanks for sharing!

[@rest8129]

Never new Americans know about my home country(Lesotho)

[@SCIFIVAMPIRE]

Would love to see more of these. I think Blade Runner would be a cool next one.

[@Msmaa26]

Amazing!!!

[@spiritualwonderboy_]

the detail in marvel films is one of the insane masterpiece to reach the craziness level of creativity as an artist. hopefully, they have documentary about the process behind of how they understand each other as a team or family to make unforgettable history of human creativity.

[@kathleenweinberg6442]

Good afternoon 🌄☀️🌅 everyone

[@lsamoa]

As usual an English-speaking African almost only referencing details from English-speaking African countries, even if some of those details have more obvious origins in other parts of the continent. There are a lot of influences from more contemporary architectural styles as well, like Neo-Sudanese modernism etc, that I was disappointed he didn't mention. Interesting episode still. One thing I never quite wrapped my head around was the fact that Wakanda is supposed to have been completely isolated from the world for 3000 years and yet its capital city is multi-cultural with influences from across the continent, and the outfits and accessories worn by the Wakandan nations at the waterfall come from all over Africa (however often worn "wrong"). How did this happen? Did they secretly sneak out some people to other countries to study them and bring back cultural influences? The Southern African accents in a supposedly East African country were a bit jarring too but hey.

[@km-yz9gw]

It’s isolated from the world unidirectionally. The world can’t get in, but wakandians can get out. They have spies all over the world. For example, Kilmonger’s father was a spy in california. And when Kilmonger wanted to send the warheads all over the world, there were wakandian soldiers/spies to receive these warheads. So, it’s not unreasonable to conclude that the influences from other countries come from info gathered by spies

[@lsamoa]

@@km-yz9gw You're right, that explains it

[@siriusakari6729]

Sam made a reference to the Great Mosque of Djenné or the University of Timbuktu which is in Mali and the tata castles which are originally from Northern Benin, both Benin and Mali are francophone nations (which really doesn't even matter). It is either you did not watch the video in its entirety, or you have no knowledge to some of the places and architecture he is referencing to otherwise your comment about only 'referencing English-speaking African countries' is incorrect.

[@lsamoa]

@@siriusakari6729 Did you read what I wrote before replying? I said "almost only". These two were the exceptions. My point still stands.

[@rocketmansapprentice]

Yeah no, I agree. So many foreign films (aka not made from the continent) love to use English-colonial countries interchangeably to show "AFRICA" 😮‍💨. I love how local film makers are starting to change that but the MCU is a massive blockbuster franchise, like Disney, so I was surprised that they put in that much effort 😊.Hopefully it will improve in following decades for the younger generations. In the 90s we basically only had the Lion King.

[@NW255]

I like all the African animals sitting in their natural habitats with the Nairobi skyline in the background it’s confusing and bizarre but it’s awesome. Imagine living there and looking out of your 50th floor office window and seeing elephants roaming around

[@ericmwash6183]

In some Nairobi suburbs people live in new modern highrise apartments but have direct views of the national park with the animals.

[@mackofficial96]

The Map of wakanda looks exactly like Rwandan Map,check it out!

[@erbitejohnrichm.2749]

I learned a lot from this cool guy...

[@CityZxens]

Wakanda Foreverr!

[@marzero116]

Carving the building out of the mountain is also like the Churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia.

[@madelineclark]

This was a great video

[@kil0chrl7e]

How cool is this!!

[@guyafrica7894]

Sam Williams gives such wonderful insights. Would love to explore a website or podcast by them.

[@dademujohn]

Very good I wish we have more videos like this thanks you so much. I also pray that more movies would look like Blank Panther 1 (not like Wakanda Forever😒😒)

[@BlogofTheW3st]

Thank you for the video! Very interesting. I did not know that the world of Wakanda was so far removed from the reality of Africa. The team behind Wakanda was extremely inventive indeed!

[@V.S.M.OChannel]

WAKANDA FOREVER! 🥰😍

[@yenn4483]

Great video!

[@yallgonlearntoday]

Thank you!!!

[@yurielcundangan9090]

We shall need more people to WAKE Up to this chaos

[@tsmith4988]

Does the host, Sam Williams, have a LinkedIn?? I would love to know more about his career

[@theavengers.]

Love chadwick and black panther wakanda forever

[@mamela5082]

Did he say Development in Johannesburg is uncontrolled? That is highly ignorant. As a South African, the video lost credibility there.

[@triciahlongwa6383]

I think he's correct. He's an architectural researcher meaning his views are informed by historical evidence, Johannesburg is very mish-mash, there's no sense of architectural continuation. You find English style mixed with brutalist mixed with conventional basic high rises. Also he mentions the tall and shorter buildings which is correct. He's talking from an architectural standpoint not governmental intervention or control.

[@rocketmansapprentice]

Video aside... have you seen the outskirts of Jozi today? Anyways, from an American or even European perspective that has very regulated zoning laws in and around the mega cities, Joburg CBD and surrounds does look haphazard. I think they should have used some one local to the continent to explain.

[@arehoneb]

This is gold

[@sebb-wh3tb]

We need a tlalokan video

[@eyvondiadupar339]

Awesome!!!

[@samuelimonje9627]

great video

[@jobloification]

Love this video! And the host is hot, hope there are more topics to come!!

[@brianantoniohuman]

I LOVE Solar Punk

[@lornamarie5544]

Interesting, blimey who knew 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@yurielcundangan9090]

Certified Chadewick Classic

[@roseflorian64]

Anyone know Sam Williams website or Linkedin? I'm looking to collaborate with him on a project. Thank you in advance!

[@rhodabaruch4]

My type of content

[@thedeeprot]

👍👍👍

[@caseclosed9342]

Kind of interesting they used the tower in Johannesburg as a reference for Wakanda considering the tower was built by the white-run government of South Africa…

[@greenhornet8262]

The video is about inspiration from locations Africa not the race of the people in Africa

[@vusumuzimntambo9708]

Literally almost every city in Africa was built by a white ran government

[@greenhornet8262]

@@vusumuzimntambo9708 many of the ancient cites such as the mosque in Mali and structures in Nigeria were not built by white run governments. Also, the current cities now which are what Wakanda is based on are not run by all white governments. As he said in the video, nairobis skyline was drastically developed in recent years after colonization which is where they got inspiration

[@vusumuzimntambo9708]

@@greenhornet8262 that's why I said "most" many of the cities mentioned in this video where built by white people such as Lagos and Nairobi but he choose to target Johannesburg? We all know why he chose to target only a South African city

[@greenhornet8262]

@@vusumuzimntambo9708 even if those cities like lagos or Nairobi were originally created by white people, the details that are from the city that are indigenously African are what the inspiration came from, so the fact that they were created by white people is irrelevant

[@remuslazar2033]

Of course they put a POC architecture expert, of course

[@greenhornet8262]

Does it bother you?

[@nelsonsibiya9204]

@@greenhornet8262 Please ask him again ??

[@aerys2111]

The way he says Johannesburg tho 😂😂😂😂

[@rocketmansapprentice]

😅 oh shame

[@azhariarif]

I always thought KL is like Wakanda.

[@rankoorovic7904]

Wakanda being inspired by Johanesburg is beyond ironic hahahahahahahahaha

[@PHlophe]

Branko, considering the language spoken in Wakanda is supposed to be a variant of a Nguni language, mostly iSiXhosa it actually makes sense that wakana would have a few features from Tswane

[@rankoorovic7904]

@@PHlophe Who's Branko?I was referring to the fact that Johannesburg was the city symbol of apartheid

[@rocketmansapprentice]

Take a look at this 👇 @caseclosed9342 1 month ago Kind of interesting they used the tower in Johannesburg as a reference for Wakanda considering the tower was built by the white-run government of South Africa…

[@nosremek3848]

please do Kylie jenner AD house tour

[@walkinginiran.]

[@dintorodintoro-cw1yq]

Yes

[@hufjournallife7218]

Future African nationals could use it

[@donaldpolk1572]

Awesome

[@afrinaut3094]

That is not the definition of “solar punk”, “what if we solved all the worlds problems“. Wow that is just belittling. Solar punk is essentially, The strategy of using new technology such as advancements in city-design and architecture with more green and environment friendly means of production and outcomes. Also using old traditional methods of city-designing, such as walkable-urban-planning. Edit: The point of solar punk is to answer and to help us solve some of those environmental problems. Not to wait until those issues are magically gone and then start building. Smh🤦🏾‍♂️

[@rocketmansapprentice]

I think he meant in Wakanda specifically, that had never been "Western-industrialised", they drew on solar punk; because it would not have had to undo that kind of industrialisation 🤔

[@drakegeralds699]

It’s CarNo not KayNo houses

[@ppp-ppp-ppp]

❤

[@srimuharyati2387]

Governor Wakanda? Ridwan Kamil!

[@adamcheklat7387]

You think Africa’s architecture scene could be inspired by this?

[@NikkoTanGoogle]

tf he should enunciate "solarpunk" better, i was left guessing what he meant until i turned on subs silerpunk? silverpunk?? tf

[@rohanranjan616]

BIRNIN ZANA

[@retsepilerammoko]

Lesotho 🇱🇸 Lesotho 🇱🇸 wakanda ea mampela

[@GrandPrizeFitnesAJAY]

He's smart and cute.