This one-day virtual conference explores politics in sub-Saharan Africa through an examination of public architecture including parliaments, airports, prisons, ministries, libraries, universities, schools, shopping malls, public housing, cathedrals, palaces and the AU headquarters.
To date, there has been no effort to systemically connect debates about Africa’s domestic and international politics with the study of architecture. Yet buildings are materially and symbolically interwoven with political power, administration and relationships, as well global flows of money, goods and contracts. The work discussed will explore how buildings are commissioned, financed and built, how they enable elites to project power and how they form a basis for popular conceptions of the state and its international relationships, drawing on case studies from across the continent.
The proposal builds on a research project being carried out at SOAS, University of London. It receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 772070).