ARCHITECTS OF LIBERATION

A stunning survey of the boom in independence-era building by western African architects in the mid-20th century, expressed across universities, hotels, banks, museums and more

Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing to the 1980s, the independence period in Africa was a time of prolific―and thrilling―architectural production, during which leaders of newly independent nations sought to redefine themselves and their countries in contrast to colonial rule. Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa focuses on seven western African nations―Benin (Dahomey), Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo―and illuminates the ways in which architects sought to adapt, adopt or reinvent the idiom of modernism for their specific cultural, political and economic purposes.
This landmark publication features more than 200 illustrations, including architectural drawings and archival photographs, as well as a newly commissioned photographic portfolio by François-Xavier Gbré highlighting these stunning works of architecture. Essays on critical topics―including Africanization, Pan-Africanism, infrastructure projects, housing and tourism―together with close studies of iconic buildings and their architects, situate the architectural production of the region within its many complex contexts.