‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence’ at the V&A is a bold exploration
London’s V&A presents ‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence’, a deep dive into 1940s architectural influences within West Africa and India
![Film still of Unity Hall, KNUST, Kumasi by John Owuso Addo and Miro Marasović at the V&A's 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence' exhibition](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VnfuYPLy6epzMimZ7TT5HQ-415-80.jpeg)
The V&A’s ‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence’ is a bold exhibition that takes on ideas of colonialism, post-colonialism and how architecture and aesthetics can operate as both propaganda and a tool for liberation. In this complex show we discover the Indian and Ghanaian architects who took this Western aesthetic and modernist architecture, and made it their own, adapting it to their cultures and climates.
University College, Ibadan: Library veranda
‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence’ at the V&A
The exhibition starts by looking at the legacy of British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry, and their work in both India and Ghana at a time when India had achieved independence and Ghana was just about to.
As these architects were coming up with iterations of the tropical modernism genre, a style of architecture which adapted to the different climates of each country, the cogs of change where turning and their work evolved through the energy and passion of those rebuilding countries and continents after independence. Gold Coast prime minister and Ghana’s first post-independence president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru were taking their countries into new eras after the end of British rule, through the late 1950s and the 1960s.
Film still of Scott House, Accra by Kenneth Scott, for 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence'
'They wanted to have a kind of architecture that looked back to the past, not in terms of copying, or pastiche,' explains Dr Christopher Turner, the V&A’s Keeper of Art, Architecture, Photography & Design, and curator of the exhibition, 'but in terms of using those methods of climate control that have been learned over thousands of years and incorporating them into this modernist vision. So it was like some fusion that they were advocating for. It's modernism with this kind of spirit of the place that was lacking in previous projects, they thought.'
Le Corbusier in Chandigarh with the plan of the city and a model of the Modular Man, his universal system of proportion, 1951
The initial focus is mainly on the Le Corbusier-designed city of Chandigarh, the capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and takes a deeper look at the Indian architects, designers and builders, who created the city with the French-Swiss architect.
Built quickly and from scratch, with cheap local labour, the city didn’t take on board Indian street culture or customs of living. While it was a huge achievement, its most visited attraction today is a village of statues by artist and local road inspector Nek Chand made using detritus knocked down to make way for the new Chandigarh, explained Turner.
Film still of Senior Staff Club House, KNUST, Kumasi, by Miro Marasović, Nikso Ciko and John Owuso Addo, for 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence'
'Nehru had very strong ideas about how everything should work and he stipulated that the Western architects should not bring their own architecture offices with them, but use Indian architects – and the project would serve as a kind of school,' Turner told Wallpaper* on a tour of the exhibition.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
On view are a beautiful defendant’s box from the courthouse, and chairs designed for the library, as well as architectural models and photography bringing to life the stories of the people who worked with the Western practitioners to make the idea of Chandigarh a reality.
Boy and concrete screen at University College Ibadan, 1962
'We have an armchair by Pierre Jeanneret, who did design a lot of the furniture for Chandigarh. But a lot of the Indian architects were also involved in the furniture design and didn't necessarily get the credit for it,' explained project curator Justine Sambrook.
The exhibition also tells the story of Ghanaian architect Victor Adegbite, who was asked by Nkrumah to return from the United States to lead the design of a post-colonial Ghana. He designed sites including Accra’s iconic Black Star Square.
Community Centre, Accra, 1953
We also see the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, which was built in 1952 to train a new generation of African architects, and the modernist buildings on campus have the functionality, brise soleils, and use of light and shade that are the trademarks of African Modernism. The senior staff club house, designed by Miro Marasović, Nikso Ciko and John Owuso, features in the exhibition, as well as a film directed by Turner and architects Nana Biamah-Ofosu and Bushra Mohamed, which was also screened at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Featuring objects, ephemera, painting, sculpture and film alongside architectural drawings, models and plans, the exhibition charts not only the evolution of modernist architecture outside the West. It also looks at how buildings and aesthetics can represent culture and mirror societal change. It shows how a generation of architects built and expanded on visions of a post-colonial future.
Black Star Square, Accra by Ghana Public Works Department, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa’
In highlighting the work of the architects and designers who worked with the big Western names that kickstarted the tradition of tropical modernism, the exhibition also shows us where the former took these ideas going forward, both in theory and in practice. The exhibition also nods to the development and ideologies that threaten these buildings today, the legacies of their makers, and what we can learn from this climate-conscious architecture.
'We deliberately set out to complicate the history of tropical modernism by looking at the architecture [in the context of] the anti-colonial struggle of the time, and by engaging with and centring South Asian and West African perspectives,' Turner said. 'As we look to a new future in an era of climate change, might tropical modernism, which used the latest building and environmental science then available to passively cool buildings, serve as a useful guide?'
'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence' is on show at the Victoria & Albert museum from 2 March to 22 September 2024 www.vam.ac.uk
Amah-Rose Abrams is a British writer, editor and broadcaster covering arts and culture based in London. In her decade plus career she has covered and broken arts stories all over the world and has interviewed artists including Marina Abramovic, Nan Goldin, Ai Weiwei, Lubaina Himid and Herzog & de Meuron. She has also worked in content strategy and production.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Tour the Natural History Museum’s new gardens, a Jurassic lark in London
The Natural History Museum in London has unveiled two new gardens, with resident dinosaurs, after a transformation led by architects Feilden Fowles
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Drama Republic moves into a colourful, handcrafted workspace in London
For the new creative HQ of production company Drama Republic, Emil Eve Architects remodels a warehouse into office space in London’s Holborn
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Hideaway House in London features timber panelling inspired by the New York hospitality scene
The elegantly refurbished Hideaway House by Studio McW in London features timber panelling inspired by Philip Johnson’s The Four Seasons Restaurant
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
An Uxbridge annexe by Bureau de Change is a design for effortless intergenerational living
Uxbridge Bower, a residential annexe in west London, is a contemporary addition offering both privacy and connection for the needs of a family
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Modern Buildings’ tours south-east London through a guide to post-war Blackheath and Greenwich
‘Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich’ is a detailed survey of a London borough’s rich trove of new modernist architecture
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Triangle House invites you to its inner world of colourful surprises
Triangle House by Artefact is a private home in Epsom, outside London, combining Caribbean style, colour and functionality
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Tour the refreshed Saint Andrew Holborn: an icon reveals its crisp new interior in London
DaeWha Kang reimagines Saint Andrew Holborn church through a sensitive architectural solution that blends tradition and modernity in London
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Suffolk house by Studio Bark pairs a fresh visual language with low-energy design
Suffolk house Water Farm is off-the-grid but defiantly on the map, a bold new object in the landscape with a strong visual impact and minimal carbon footprint
By Jonathan Bell Published