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Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence
Tropical Modernism was an architectural style developed in the hot, humid conditions of West Africa in the 1940s. After independence, India and Ghana adopted the style as a symbol of modernity and progressiveness, distinct from colonial culture.
Exhibition highlights
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Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, by Fry, Drew & Partners, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence'. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry with a model of one of their many buildings for the Gold Coast, 1 945. Image courtesy RIBA -
Scott House, Accra by Kenneth Scott, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence'. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Eduardo Paolozzi, Klokvormig Masker, 1946 – 47. Courtesy Flowers Gallery, London. © Trustees of the Paolozzi Foundation, licensed by DACS -
Sick Hagemeyer shop assistant as a seventies icon posing in front of the United Trading Company headquarters, Accra, 1971 . © James Barnor. Courtesy of galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière -
Illustration from The Architectural Review, 1953. Courtesy RIBA Collections. © Gordon Cullen Estate -
Community Centre, Accra, 1953. Image courtesy RIBA -
Senior Staff Club House, KNUST, Kumasi by Miro Marasović, Nikso Ciko and John Owuso Addo, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence'. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Tower of Shadows, Chandigarh (India). Scale model, 1957, Le Corbusier (Jeanneret, Charles-Edouard 1887 – 1965). © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Scala, Florence -
Aditya Prakash, photo album of architectural projects, people, landscapes, and Aditya Prakash, about 1960s – 2000s. © Aditya Prakash fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture. Gift of Vikramaditya Prakash -
Le Corbusier in Chandigarh with the plan of the city and a model of the Modular Man, his universal system of proportion, 1951. © FDL, ADAGP 2014
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Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence
Supported by James Bartos and Celia and Edward Atkin CBE
Header image:
Unity Hall, KNUST, Kumasi by John Owuso Addo and Miro Marasović – film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa'. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London