The Takienta Building Tradition at Koutammakou, Benin and Togo

The takienta, the traditional Batammariba house, is the living product of a distinctive cultural expression and the focus of World Monuments Fund's (WMF) work at Koutammakou, a 2020 World Monuments Watch site in Benin and Togo.

In late 2020, WMF launched a conservation project to document and assess traditional settlements in the Benin side of Koutammakou and carry out physical conservation at a selection of sikien (plural of takienta) alongside local artisans. In this slideshow, travel across the Koutammakou cultural landscape and go behind the scenes of the takienta building process.