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Western modernism came to colonial West Africa and India, but with independence they made it their own.Tropical Modernism: Stories of Architecture and Independence
For a number of reasons, now is an appropriate time for the V&A to explore Tropical Modernism, the subject of a new exhibition opening on 2 March. The intersection of West African and Indian architecture with colonialism and independence in the mid-20th century has always yielded rich material, but at a time when many institutions are seeking to “decolonize themselves,” curator Christopher Turner said. ” This is especially true when. Thinking about their imperial past and their racial assumptions”.
The architectural legacy of tropical modernism is increasingly under threat, especially in India, where several important modernist buildings from both the pre- and post-independence periods face an uncertain fate. As the exhibition does, time is running out to directly document the experiences of the era’s surviving architects. At a time of climate crisis, could tropical modernism be a useful reference point for those seeking a more sustainable approach to design?
Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence tells the story of the spread of the style in West Africa and India against the backdrop of the anti-colonial struggles of the time. The exhibition considers its role, first in the service of colonial regimes and later as a form of expression for newly independent states after decolonization. In doing so, it explores how it was first shaped by Europeans such as British architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, who had been working on the former Gold Coast (now Ghana) since 1945 work, adapting modernist principles to a tropical climate, but made little attempt to engage with vernacular architecture.
The exhibition then explores how West African and Indian architects adopted the style and evolved into more regional expressions.
How did tropical modernism provide articulation to colonial and postcolonial regimes? According to Turner, it survived the transformation because it was seen as “international and neutral, especially compared to earlier colonial architecture” and had no religious or ethnic baggage. As a result, leading figures such as Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Ghanaian Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah adopted it as a key tool for nation-building.
They saw it as progressive, scientific and optimistic, a style that suited their particular brand of socialism, Turner said.
Nkrumah invited Ghanaian architect Victor Adegbite to return from the United States to help the country build a new future after independence in 1957. His projects include Black Star Square, a parade ground on the former colonial sports ground in Accra that celebrates independence. A new law ensures all major construction projects are led by Ghanaian architects.
Nkrumah established the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the first architecture school in sub-Saharan Africa, to train a new generation of African architects. Included in the exhibit is an aluminum Buckminster Fuller dome, built by students at the university during the American inventor’s brief teaching visit in 1964. Turner was delighted to discover the dome, which had long been forgotten among the university’s rooftop spaces, during research for the exhibition. The film, directed by Turner, Nana Biamah-Ofusu and rising RIBAJ star Bushra Mohamed, explores the architectural legacy of tropical modernism of the period. It includes archival footage and interviews with surviving participants, such as 95-year-old John Owusu-Addo, who trained and worked in London before returning to Ghana to build and teach.
Throughout, the exhibition is committed to naming and recognizing the achievements of West African and Indian architects, who are more likely to be referred to as anonymous assistants than in contemporary archives.
“Our aim is to focus and celebrate the architects who worked with them in West Africa and later in India, all of whom should be better known,” said Turner. “After independence, these architects sought to create alternative modernisms that were more Reflecting their heritage well, we hope the exhibition will trace this story.
In India, the exhibition looks at how Nehru launched Chandigarh, the country’s first major modernist project, hiring Drew and Frye and bringing in Le Corbusier. Turner said European architects were not allowed to bring offices to India – Nehru wanted Chandigarh to be a “school of life” where Indian architects would be trained on the job. There is a lot of appreciation for the Indian architects who work full-time on the team in Chandigarh – Corb visits twice a year – and Turner was delighted to be able to interview Jeet Malhotra and Shivdatt Sharma, who have been junior architects in Chandigarh since its inception.
Turner said Nehru was also keen on local architects developing Indian modernism as part of a new national identity. The exhibition looks at the work of architects such as Aditya Prakash, Balkrishna Doshi and Raj Rewal in this context.
Tropical Modernism is primarily a climate-responsive architecture that utilizes deep balconies and shading to work with the climate rather than against it. With the widespread use of air conditioning in the 1970s, its fate was sealed, Turner said. But while researching the exhibition, he discovered a renewed interest in this history among contemporary architects in South Asia and West Africa. He said the exhibition would show how the scientific passive principles of tropical modernism “learned lessons” as architects looked to the past and looked to the future as they sought more sustainable architecture for these regions.
Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence, 2 March – 22 September 2024, Porter Gallery, V&A, South Kensington, London
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