African Modernism: Architecture of Independence

Edited and curated by Manuel Herz with Ingrid Schröder, Hans Focketyn and Julia Jamrozik

^{Image credit: Iwan Baan}

During the late 1950s and the 1960s most countries of Sub-Saharan Africa gained their independence. Architecture became one of the principal means with which the young nations expressed their national identity. This book documents and analyses this architecture of Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Zambia. Representing some of the most impressive examples of architecture of its time worldwide, the buildings though have hardly received any attention. The project traces the relationship between architectural design and nation building.

Book: published by Park Books, Zurich (text in English)
essays by Zvi Efrat, Manuel Herz, Hannah Le Roux, Léo Noyer-Duplaix and Ingrid Schröder

Exhibition: Vitra Design Museum Gallery, 20 February until 31 May 2015