Nordic countries gave gifts of architecture to Africa
Tanzania’s first president Julius Nyerere with planners from Europe in Kibaha. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
A photo exhibition at the Nairobi National Museum titled Forms of Freedom: African Independence and Nordic Models plots the history of Nordic-designed buildings.
People may not know that many buildings in former African colonies of Britain were erected by Nordic countries.
At Independence, the governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia sought partnerships with European countries that were not associated with colonisation in order to build their infrastructure. Much of the aid from Finland, Iceland and Scandinavian countries came as modern architecture.
A photo exhibition at the Nairobi National Museum titled Forms of Freedom: African Independence and Nordic Models plots the history of Nordic-designed buildings.
The exhibition has pictures of structures designed and built by Northern Europeans. The 32-storey Kenyatta International Conference Centre was designed in 1966 by the Norwegian Karl Henry Nostvik. The building hosted the first World Bank Conference in Africa in 1973.
The Kisumu Airport Terminal, Kenya Science Teacher’s College and the Mombasa Law Courts are other Nordic structures in Kenya.
Tanzania’s first president Julius Nyerere saw “no need for ostentatious projects like skyscrapers,” but envisioned urban planning that conformed to the ideals of a modern socialist state.
The 1970s masterplan for the port of Tanga is one example of urban decentralisation and regional development. One photo shows a “ten-cell” plan of plotted houses, water kiosks, playgrounds, parking, streets, and communal facilities that could be replicated for up to 25,000 people.
The Kibaha Education Centre was established in 1964 as the Nordic Tanganyika Education Centre. Aged colour photos show a mini-city of dormitories, classrooms, library, dining area and gardens with covered walkways and natural cross-ventilation to ensure an enjoyable school climate.
In Zambia, the Nordics demonstrated their architectural prowess with unique models for 65 secondary schools funded by the World Bank. Pictures show schools of the early 1970s with characteristic arched roofs of transparent fibreglass, many of which remain in use today.
Forms of Freedom was first shown in 2014 in Austria, then in Norway the following year. The Nairobi exhibition is a collaboration with the National Museum of Art in Oslo, and will run until the end of the month.
