2024-12-22T02:17:37-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/144431565/win-african-modernism-a-book-that-investigates-nation-building-in-five-african-countries Justine Testado 2016-01-06T14:16:00-05:00 >2016-01-27T18:45:39-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/po/po2hh8p084x5f3b7.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Several African countries gained hard-fought independence from their colonizers during the 1950s and 1960s, and one way the countries expressed their new national identities was through architecture. The book&nbsp;<em>African Modernism</em>&nbsp;delves into this relationship between architecture and the complexities of nation building, particularly in Ghana, Senegal,&nbsp;C&ocirc;te d'Ivoire, Kenya, and Zambia.&nbsp;</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/l0/l09jffvv3uahuv9k.jpg"></p><p>Edited by architect <a href="http://manuelherz.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Manuel Herz</a>&nbsp;and published to accompany the Vitra Design Museum's <a href="http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/african_modernism_to_take_the_spotlight_at_vitra_design_museum_starting_feb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Architecture of Independence" exhibition</a>, the hefty 640-page book features 103 buildings with brief description texts, images, site plans, floor plans, and sections, as well as significant&nbsp;photo contributions from Iwan Baan and Alexia Webster &mdash;&nbsp;who each documented the buildings in their current state.&nbsp;The book also features essays that focus on different aspects and topics regarding post-colonial Africa, which are illustrated with images and documents. If you're in Chicago, the Architecture of Independence exhibition wil...</p>