African Modernism: Nation Building | Thinkpiece | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/rethink/african-modernism-nation-building/10019150.article
As countries in Africa gained their independence, modernist architecture attempted to express their new identities
In the late 1950s and the early ’60s most countries of Sub-Saharan Africa gained their independence. Architecture became one of the principal means for the young nations to express their national identity. Parliament buildings, central banks, stadia, conference centres, universities and independence memorials were constructed, often featuring heroic and daring designs.
Modern and futuristic architecture mirrored the aspirations and forward-looking spirit dominant at that time. A coinciding period of economic boom made elaborate construction methods possible, while the tropical climate allowed for an architecture that blended the inside and outside, focused on form and the expression of materiality.
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‘The paradigm of development-aid-charity has come to dominate African architecture to the exclusion of almost everything else’ | Thinkpiece | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/rethink/the-paradigm-of-development-aid-charity-has-come-to-dominate-african-architecture-to-the-exclusion-of-almost-everything-else/10019122.article
Only with change will Africa – confined by the expectation of being influenced rather than influencing – realise its true architectural potential
It has often been said that the number of times the word ‘Africa’ is heard in a song is in almost inverse proportion to its quality: in other words, ‘Africa’ has become a lazy substitute for any number of ideas from the political to the social, cultural, historical, economic – you name it, ‘Africa’ covers it. In 2005, Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina published a controversial essay, How To Write About Africa, which, to this day, remains Granta’s most forwarded article. With its uneasy combination of laugh-out-loud satire and sarcasm, Wainaina offers a number of tips for would-be writers on Africa: ‘always use the word “Africa” or “Darkness” or “Safari” in your title. Subtitles may include the words “Zanzibar”, “Congo”, “Big”, “Sky”, “Shadow”, “Drum”, “Sun” or “Bygone”.
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‘Speak up, speak out, speak back’: Africa Architecture Awards 2017 | News | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/today/speak-up-speak-out-speak-back-africa-architecture-awards-2017/10024190.article
‘What is African architecture?’, asks Mark Olweny, senior lecturer at Uganda Martyrs University and chair of the judging panel of this year’s Africa Architecture Awards, ‘What makes architecture work on this continent?’
