Modern Architecture in Africa: Practical Encounters with Intricate African Modernity

377 Pages·2019·50.628 MB·English

by  Antoni S. Folkers, Belinda A. C. van Buiten

Antoni S. Folkers
Belinda A. C. van Buiten
Modern
Architecture
in Africa
Practical Encounters
with Intricate African Modernity
Modern Architecture in Africa
Antoni S. Folkers (cid:1) Belinda A. C. van Buiten
Modern Architecture in Africa
Practical Encounters with Intricate African
Modernity
123
AntoniS. Folkers BelindaA.C. vanBuiten
African Architecture Matters Utrecht, The Netherlands
Amsterdam, TheNetherlands
ISBN978-3-030-01074-4 ISBN978-3-030-01075-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01075-1
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018958946
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Foreword to the First Edition
Antoni Folkers’ Modern Architecture in Africa is an architectural study conducted during a
pilgrimage to a continent in which he was a stranger. It is a reflection on the experiences
gainedduringyearsofresiding,practising,andobservinghowthepeopleusespacesinAfrica.
Folkers’ book explains how modern and contemporary structures have been conceived,
planned, and built in order to meet the aspirations of residents from all over Africa.
Folkers’historicaljourneyresultsintwomajorconclusions,whichhepresentstothereader
of this book. First, he brings a new voice to the discourse of modern architecture in Africa.
Second,bydrawingandmakingcomparativestudiesofbuildingsinAfricathatreflectmodern
constructionmethods,heremindsusthatsustainablearchitecturaldesign,nowinternationally
afashionablecatchphrase, maycomeandgo,butitwasastandard practice amongmodernist
pioneers in Africa. Below is a brief outline of these two ideas.
Iftheterm‘modernism’meansmanythings,itincludes—butisnotlimitedto—capitalism,
colonialism, ‘modern’ ways of thinking, and one might add ‘modern’ ways of constructing
structures. In Africa, after subjugating the kings and other leaders of different kingdoms and
ethnicgroupstocolonialistrule,thefirstinfluxofmoderniststructuresfromtheearlyandthe
mid-nineteenth century was facilitated by the need for military garrisons and later by the
public works departments that served colonialists institutions. A number of texts have been
published in recent years on modern architecture in Africa, particularly in northern African
countries. However, these books usually outline two lines of narratives that either glorify
colonialist town planning and building ambitions or criticize it. The essays, books, and
monographs that examine colonialist projects often excluded the majority of native residents
who provided the physical labor to build the projects, who were sometimes important
supervisors and foremen. The presence of natives becomes the reverse side of this domi-
neering colonialists’ power. One pioneer architectural historian, Udo Kultermann, forged a
newpathin1963whenhepublishedNewArchitectureinAfricaandin1969whenthetheme
of the first book was expanded in New Directions in African Architecture. It is within this
historicalcontextthatFolkers’studyofModernArchitectureinAfricashouldbelocated.Itis
anewvoicebecausethebook’scontentstranscendcolonialistparadigmsandnarrativeswhile
including architectural projects realized by the aspirations of the African peoples.
The second contribution made by this book echoes beyond the spheres of architectural
practicesinAfrica.Folkers’bookshowsusthatbuildingscanbemoreenjoyableandfunctional
if builders take note of the clients’ needs and the climate-related requirements. On the other
hand,heexplainshowbuildingscanfailtomeettheirplannedfunctionalityifbuildersrefuseto
heedenvironmentalconditionsorspecificculturalsignificance.Folkersstructureshisbookinto
four parts, each representing one offour specialized but closely related disciplines of archi-
tectural construction:urban design,building technology, building physics, and conservation.
Whilethenotionofbuildingconservationhasbecomeincreasinglypopular,Folkers’textis
a wakeup call to historians who believe that sustainability and environmentally sensitive
designarenewphenomena.RecognizingthattraditionalAfricanarchitecturehasalwaysbeen
sustainable, Folkers’ comparative studies of building technology and building physics also
reveal that, contrary to how recent history is presenting architectural sustainability as a new
discovery, the idea of constructing buildings to adapt to the environment was also one of the
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vi ForewordtotheFirstEdition
goalsofmodernarchitectureduringthecolonialtimes.Realizingthattheywereinhot,humid,
or sometimes dry climates, the colonialists’ building agendas included plans to regulate the
inside climate of their buildings through both design and natural means, such as passive
daylight and cross-ventilation. Such buildings achieved their objectives through a variety of
means:orientation,longeaves,pitchedroofswithventilationopenings,shading,elevatingthe
buildings so as to allow wind to circulate below them, and also by climatically well-adapted
material choices and construction methods. Granted, the term sustainable design was not yet
coined in the early twentieth century when the colonialists were designing and constructing
their buildings, but their efforts in building science reveal that many were evidently much
more advanced than we are today in the effort to make buildings sustainable. This does not
hintatcolonialistnostalgia;itisahistoricfactnecessaryforthedocumentationundertakenin
this publication. Here, we can recall the works by Miles Danby, Grammar of Architectural
DesignwithSpecialReferencetotheTropics(1963);MaxwellFryandJaneDrew’sTropical
ArchitectureintheDryandHumidZones(1964);andMargaretandAlickPotter’sEverything
is Possible, Our Sudan Years (1984). The field of culture and sustainability forms the his-
torical trajectory for Folkers’ contribution, as he reflects on the present state of Modern
Architecture in Africa.
This book is singular and entertaining to read because the ideas it contains developed
naturally with Folkers. And, in turn, Folkers grew with the ideas during his practice and the
lectures,conferences,andworkshopsheandhiscolleagues—fellowmembersandfoundersof
ArchiAfrica—have hosted in and beyond the continent on the subject of modern architecture
inAfrica.Thebestwaytounderstandtheculturalpracticesofapeopleistoresidesidebyside
withthem,tolearnwiththem,andspeaktheirlanguage.Architectureisonlyonemanifestation
oftheseholisticaspectsoflife.Therefore,despitehisstatusasanoutsider,Folkersisuniquely
qualified to bring this beautiful and accessible study of Modern Architecture in Africa to the
public and to scholars and students of architecture.
Cincinnati, OH, USA Nnamdi Elleh
February 2010
Foreword to the Second Edition
A Google search for the terms ‘modern architecture in Africa’ yields 67,700,000 results in
0.63s,mostly scholarly articles, chapters, oressays that combine topresentacomplex, often
problematic—as well as problematized—picture of the history, state, and categorization of
architecture on the African continent. The two-line descriptions appearing beneath the blue,
titularhyperlinksarerevealing:‘architectureinAfricaisatacrossroads’;‘ithasbeensaidthat
there is no indigenous ‘architecture’ in Africa’; ‘post-tropical architecture, which is prevalent
in West Africa’; and so on. On the one hand, the plethora of information and opinions is a
directmetaphorical‘slapintheface’toSirHughTrevor-Roper’sincendiarycomment,‘Africa
isnohistoricalpartoftheworld;ithasnomovementordevelopmenttoexhibit.Thereisonly
thehistoryofEuropeansinAfrica.Therestisdarkness.’Ontheother,ithighlights(literally)
the lively, ongoing critical interest in the relationship between African and European archi-
tectural traditions, movements, projects, and ambitions.
By its very nature, the title of Antoni Folkers and Belinda van Buiten’s book, ‘Modern
Architecture in Africa,’ will elicit commentary. Four words that open up a series of difficult
and often uncomfortable questions over agency, taxonomy, authenticity and heritage,
including the most difficult question of all: ownership. Who has the ‘right’ to name, speak,
authenticate? As their second edition clearly states, the discourses that once described
architectural developments on the African continent (which we describe as ‘African’ archi-
tecture) as a separate, isolated, and site-specific historicity have largely been re-evaluated.
Africanarchitecturaldevelopments,likemuchofAfricanhistoryingeneral,didnotdevelopin
isolation, on the contrary. The long-standing, intertwined history and cross-fertilization of
ideas and beliefs stemming from multiple encounters between Europeans and Africans are
widely understood and accepted as historical fact. The careful compilation and painstaking
attention to detail that underpin this second edition serve to underscore this fact.
Morerecently,anewimaginativestrandofcreativeandcriticalenquiryhasemerged,most
notably in films such as Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018) and in literature in Malorie
Blackman’sNoughts&Crosses,nowbeingadaptedtofilm.Theseimaginingsposita‘whatif
…’Africanfuturewherethefamiliartropesofslavery,colonialism,andoppressionhavebeen
turned on their heads. Wakanda, the fictional country created by Marvel Comics, draws
heavily on architectural typologies that combine space-age technology with traditional
‘African’designsandcompletelybypassesthemodernistarchitecture thathascometodefine
the independence-era visions of so many African countries. Of equal interest is the surge in
publications, exhibitions, and symposia that have taken place both on the African continent
andgloballyinthelastdecade.Therearetoomanytolistorname:Afritecture:theBuildingof
a Continent, curated by Andres Lepik in Munich in 2011 was recently followed by African
Mobilities, this time jointly curated by Lepik and Mpho Matsipa. The creative distance
between these two exemplary exhibitions points to a deepening of the understanding of
preciselythoseinterrelationshipsthatFolkersandvanBuitenhavepatientlyandpainstakingly
recorded. The binaries that define African enterprise and identity: rich/poor; black/white;
native/foreigner; developed/developing (the list is almost endless) are both tragically limited
and limiting.
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viii ForewordtotheSecondEdition
Coterminous withthis rise in interest has been theSouth African student-led protests over
the past three years, which have succeeded in placing issues of decolonization and transfor-
mation on the academic agenda in ways that can no longer be ignored. #RhodesMustFall
shone a particularly bright spotlight on the paucity of balanced and scholarly texts, critical to
decolonization efforts across a range of disciplines, most notably architecture. That a statue
shouldunleash such atorrentof anguish andrage makes thepoint even more clearly. Shared
knowledge, shared accounts, and shared experiences are the only way a decolonized, trans-
formed, and more equitable history can be rewritten.
As Stuart Hall reminds us so eloquently, identities, like histories, are always ‘in process,
never completed.’1Modern Architecture in Africa (second edition) is an important and nec-
essary addition to the expanding literature on which the development and sustainability of a
new African architectural canon fundamentally depend.
Johannesburg, South Africa Lesley Lokko
Reference
Hall S (1990) Cultural identity in question. In: Hall S, Held D, McGrew T (eds) Modernity and its futures.
Polity,Cambridge
1Hall(1990).
Contents
Part I Working on the African city
1 The Lost Cities of Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 The Modern African City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3 The Other Side of Zanzibar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4 Popular Housing in Ouagadougou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5 The Contemporary African City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Part II Building in Africa
6 Farewell to African Arcadia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
7 The Faculty of Engineering in Dar es Salaam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8 A Field Office in Wagadogo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
9 Inno-native African Building Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Part III African Comfort
10 African Environment and Comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
11 The Dobie House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
12 Turiani Hospital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
13 Restituitas and Autarky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Part IV Monument Care in Africa
14 From Imhotep to Docomomo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
15 The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
16 The Restoration of St. Joseph’s Cathedral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
17 The Completion of the Mater Misericordia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
18 Monument Care in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Modern Architecture in Africa.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 327
Glossary/African Synonym... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 353
References .... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 357
Index ... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 361
ix
Abbreviations
ADAUA Association pour le Développement d’une Architecture et d’un Urbanisme
Africains
AKTC The Aga Khan Trust for Culture
ARCCH AuthorityforResearchandConservationofCulturalHeritageoftheMinistryof
Youth, Sports and Culture, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
ASP Afro Shirazi Party (TANU, CCM)
AT Appropriate Technology
BACIBO Bart, Cis & Bob Deuss—a development organization
BMZ Bundesministerium fur wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung
BRI Building Research Institutes
BRU Building Research Unit
BTC Brique/Bloc en terre comprimée
BTS Brique/Bloc de terre stabilisée
CDR Comité du Defense de la Revolution
COET College of Engineering and Technology of UDSM
CRATerre Centre de Recherche et d’Application – Terre
CSB Construire sans bois
DDR Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic)
DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
DGUT Direction Generale de l’Urbanisme et de la Topographie
DOCOMOMO International organization for the documentation and conservation of buildings
and urban ensembles and landscape sites of the Modern Movement
DVD Dienst Vastgoed Defensie
EAU East African Union
FBW Folkers, Van Buiten and Wilks architects and engineers
FISA Fondation Internationale de Synthèse Architecturale
FOE Faculty of Engineering
GATE German Appropriate Technology Exchange
GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit
HRDU Housing Research and Development Unit
ICOMOS International Council on Monuments and Sites
IFT Institut fur Tropenbau—Institute for Building in the Tropics
IMF Internationaal Monetair Fonds
IPD-AOS Institut Panafricain pour le Developpement – Afrique de l’Ouest – Sahel
KfW Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau
KNUST Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Kumasi, Ghana)
L+P Lippsmeier + Partner Architekten
PUH Permis Urbain d’Habiter
PWD Public Works Department
RLICC Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation
SAR Stichting Architecten Research
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