Arieh Sharon / Faculty of Social Sciences, Ile-Ife. Image © Jean Molitor
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https://www.archdaily.com/1037931/architecture-as-nation-building-modernism-and-independence-in-africa
Launched in September 2024, the Rediscovering Modernism in Africa series joined a growing worldwide interest in this topic. Previously underrepresented in architectural discussions, the work of architects and researchers on the continent and abroad has continued to tell the story of these high-quality modern works of architecture. These buildings represent designers striving to create locally suited architecture using global concepts and technologies, coinciding with huge political changes as most African countries gained their independence.
Rediscovering Modernism in Africa explored a multiplicity of themes under ‘Modernism’ in ‘Africa.’ Modernism here is understood as the architecture of the Modern Movement initiated by architects like Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius in mainland Europe in the early twentieth century. Together with the rejection of history, it was characterized by a focus on function, the dismissal of ornament, and the innovative use of new materials and structural capabilities. These made Modernism easily transferable to Africa, which, in the middle of the twentieth century, was going through a period of profound change and liberation from colonialism.
