Monuments of Country, Climate and Culture: Michel Écochard and the Design of the Postcolonial Tropolis

The French architect and urban designer Écochard, was one of the numerous architects that designed buildings and cities for newly independent nations in the post-war era of decolonization. Many of these young nation states were in search for urban and architectural projects that would explicitate a “proper” model of modernization that differed from that of the former colonizer. This essay argues that the principles of tropical architecture would play a key role in representing and monumentalizing such an alternative model of modernization

Betaalbaar wonen als ontwikkelingshulp

It was not by coincidence that the UN Economical and Social Council decided in 1948, only a few years after the actual foundation of the United Nations as an organization, to start a division on Housing and Town and Country Planning. This division was a central component in the larger so-called technical assistance programme that the United Nations developed to help countries that were in need – ranging from war-affected countries in Europe to newly independent nation-states in African and Asia. Among the members of the council, there was a clear understanding that affordable housing was a universal human right, as well as a main matter of concern and a prime field of intervention for the new international organization. The Housing and Town and Country Planning (HTCP) division was from its inception until 1966 headed by a former member of the Congress Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), the Yugoslavian Ernest Weismann. The new division was defined first and foremost as a base of expertise: it was meant to gather worldwide knowledge on the matter of affordable housing that was generated in the different member countries. With this in mind, the HTCP managed to unite different professional camps of architects and urban planners, gathering public administrations and avant-garde groups, but also organizations that had previously been keen to establish an ideological distance such as the CIAM and the International Union of Architects (IUA). The knowledge that was gathered was made available to the member countries in different ways: through the publication of manuals and a bulletin, through the installation of a library and by curating a mediatheque with movies on different forms of housing worldwide. Besides this function as a base of expertise, the HTCP section also focussed on more concrete sorts of intervention. It would commission urban and regional planners, architects, engineers and technicians to go on missions to regions, countries or cities that were in need. In the decades after 1948 the HTCP would initiate hundreds of missions, organize trainings, make regional and urban plans and even design buildings for a variety of contexts and places. The numerous urban plans, neighbourhoods and buildings that resulted from these ‘development aid’ initiatives have for a long time been the no-go zones of architectural criticism and historiography. Plans and projects have often been considered as too instrumental and too technical in character to carry any cultural significance.Het was geen toeval dat de Economische en Sociale Raad van de Verenigde Naties (ECOSOC) in 1948, enkele jaren na de oprichting van de Verenigde Naties als organisatie, besloot een afdeling Housing and Town and Country Planning op te zetten. Deze afdeling was een centraal onderdeel van het grotere zogenaamde ‘programma voor technische ondersteuning’ dat de Verenigde Naties had ontwikkeld om landen in nood te helpen – uiteenlopend van Europese landen in de nasleep van de Tweede Wereldoorlog tot nieuwe, onafhankelijke natiestaten in Afrika en Azië. De leden van de Raad waren het erover eens dat betaalbare huisvesting zowel tot de universele rechten van de mens behoorde als een van de belangrijkste punten van zorg was van de nieuwe organisatie. Interventies op dit terrein zouden tot haar fundamentele taken gaan behoren. De afdeling Housing and Town and Country Planning (HTCP) werd vanaf haar oprichting tot 1966 geleid door een voormalig lid van de Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), de Joegoslaaf Ernest Weismann. De nieuwe afdeling werd in de eerste plaats gedefinieerd als een expertiseplatform: overal ter wereld zouden de diverse lidstaten kennis over betaalbare huisvesting verzamelen. Op basis van dit perspectief wist HTCP uiteenlopende professionele kampen van architecten en stedenbouwkundigen te verenigen, en bracht ze overheidsdiensten en avant-gardistische groepen bij elkaar. Ook organisaties die elkaar eerder op ideologische gronden maar al te graag op afstand hadden gehouden, zoals de CIAM en de International Union of Architects (IUA). De verzamelde kennis werd op verschillende manieren beschikbaar gesteld aan de lidstaten: via de publicatie van handboeken en een bulletin, door het openen van een bibliotheek en het beheren van een mediatheek met films over verschillende vormen van huisvesting wereldwijd. Naast haar functie als expertiseplatform richtte HTCP zich ook op concrete interventies. Zij stuurde stedenbouwkundigen, architecten, ingenieurs en technici erop uit om regio’s, landen of steden die in nood zaten te hulp te schieten. In de decennia na 1948 zou de afdeling HTCP honderden missies initiëren, trainingen organiseren, plannen opstellen voor regio’s en steden, en zelfs gebouwen ontwerpen voor allerlei contexten en locaties. De talrijke stedenbouwkundige plannen, wijken en gebouwen die uit deze ‘ontwikkelingshulp’ resulteerden, waren binnen de architectuurkritiek en architectuurgeschiedenis lange tijd onbespreekbaar. Men vond de plannen en projecten vaak te instrumenteel en te technisch om van enig cultureel belang te zijn

Excavating the company town: Small Moroccan mining cities in european archives

Figure 1: Khouribga (1924-1950), Office Chérifien des Phosphates, cont.: Tract of single-family dwellings, c. 1950 Source: Private collection Much of Morocco’s modernization during the 20th century, as well as its urban and architectural development, are linked to the mining of the country’s wealth of natural resources, such as coal, lead, zinc, and phosphates. Even before colonial times, mining had attracted the notice of foreign powers. The years immediately before and after the Protectora..

‘Obama, Please Tax Me!’: Architecture and the Politics of Redistribution

This issue of Footprint is based on the conference session ‘The European Welfare State Project – Ideals, Politics, Cities and Buildings’ as organized by the editors at the first EAHN Conference in Guimarães, Portugal in 2010, and as elaborated in the second EAHN Conference in Brussels, Belgium in 2012 (together with Mark Swenarton). These sessions were proposed as part of the research programme ‘Changing Ideals – Shifting Realities’ at the TU Delft, which aims to further disclose, map and question the architectural culture of the second half of the twentieth century.It focuses on how the welfare state in Western Europe represents a unique time frame in which manifold shifts within the modernist discourse in architecture and planning were paired with societal changes that established new assemblages between producers, designers, governments, clients, builders and users. It is part of the editors’ assumption that the current crisis of capitalism puts the politics of redistribution back on the agenda. In re-investigating the vast legacy of the welfare state, it seems only natural to look for new models for collectivity, not to dwell in nostalgia, but indeed to find alternatives to suit the new situation. At the intersections of building practice, architectural viewpoints, national and local cultural contexts, a nuanced image of welfare state architecture emerges

The Vicissitudes of Criticism in the Landscape Metropolis

The editors of this themed issue of SPOOL place the discussion on the possibilities and impossibilities of criticism within the field of the design disciplines at centre stage. We are especially interested in how criticism can make an active contribution to taking a position vis-à-vis what we have called, in earlier issues of SPOOL, the contemporary condition of ‘the landscape metropolis’. Criticism is an important means of reflection on the creative processes and interventions that are part and parcel of this landscape metropolis. It throws light on particular projects by describing and explaining them, but also by evaluating and generalising these reflections in relation to an entire discipline, be it landscape architecture, architecture, or urban design. As Miriam Gusevitch sharply notices: “Criticism is riskier than commentary. It is willing to judge and to condemn, to stake out and substantiate a particular position. Serious criticism is the careful and thoughtful disclosure of dimensions that might otherwise elude us...

l’Afrique c’est chic: achitecture and urban planning in Africa 1950-1970/Architectuur en stadsplanning in Afrika 1950-1970

This theme issue of OASE presents a critical perspective on the architectural and urban planning disciplines in Africa between 1950-1970. It contains contributions on the historiography of modern architecture in Africa of that period, as well as a series of case studies that illustrate the shift from colonial to post-independence practices in the field of architecture and planning

The vicissitudes of criticism in the landscape metropolis

In the field of the arts, criticism often plays a key role in situating artistic production and instigating debate, but especially in propelling theory and practice. As Dave Hickey suggests “Criticism, at its most serious, tries to channel change.” However, in the domains of landscape architecture, architecture, and urban design, criticism seems to have a more distanced role from reflection and design. Besides a few notable examples, such as the influence of the critical writings of Reyner Banham and Alan Colquhoun on a generation of British architects and urban designers in the 1960s, criticism seems to hold a marginal position in these fields

M & L Jaargang 18/4

Beatrix Baillieul en Kaat Leeman De cisterciënzerinnenabdij Terhagen en de neogotiek. [The Cistercian Sisters Abbey Terhagen and the neogothic Style.]Aletta Rambaut De conservatie van twee glasramen van Charles Van Crombrugghe. [The Conservation of two Stained-glass Windows by Charles Van Crombrugghe.]Tom Avermaete, Bart Minnen, Eduard Van Ermen en Willy Bollens De wijnmuur van Wezemaal, unieke getuige van een wijnbouwproject uit de vroege 19de eeuw. [The vineyard wall in Wezemaal. A unique early 19th century witness of large-scale viniculture.]Summar

Building Beyond The Mediterranean

Suez, Abu Simbel, Cairo, Algiers, Casablanca, Istanbul... This work of pioneering research by architectural historians and archivists gives us access to an exceptional field of European cultural heritage: the records of buildings and public works contractors active on the southern shores of the Mediterranean between 1860 and 1970. It covers all the construction trades, from steel or reinforced concrete bridges and dams, housing for laborers and expats, and public buildings, but also furniture, decoration, and studio crafts. All of these projects attest to the intensity of the human, technical, and artistic exchanges occurring in this period between Europe and the south-eastern Mediterranean rim. This book is illustrated with over 200 rare drawings and photographs drawn directly from the builders'archives, including old photos intended to promote the contractor's business, construction site photos, architects' plans, sketches, and notes documenting technical innovations, and vintage advertising brochures, etc. This book is the product of the transnational cooperation project "ARCHING: ARChives d'INGénierie européennes" (2010-2012) carried out as part of the European Commission Culture Programme 2007-2013, in conjunction with five institutions: the Ecomusée du Bois-du-Luc (Belgium), the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine (France), InVisu (CNRS-INHA) (France), the Dipartimento di Architettura disegno-storia-progetto of the University of Florence (Italy) and the Archmuseum (Turkey).Suez, Abou Simbel, Le Caire, Alger, Casablanca, Istanbul... Pour la première fois, des historiens de l'architecture et des conservateurs d'archives nous permettent d'accéder à un patrimoine culturel européen exceptionnel et méconnu : les archives produites par les entreprises du bâtiment et des travaux publics actives au sud de la Méditerranée, entre 1860 et 1970. Ouvrages d'art en acier ou béton armé, cités pour ouvriers et cadres expatriés, bâtiments publics mais aussi mobilier, décors, ouvrages effectués par des artisans d'art... Toutes ces réalisations témoignent d'une époque d'intenses échanges humains, techniques, et artistiques entre l'Europe et l'arc sud-est de la Méditerranée. Photographies anciennes destinées à promouvoir le travail des entrepreneurs, photographies de chantier, dessins d'architectes, croquis et carnets documentant les innovations techniques, plaquettes publicitaires... le livre est illustré par plus de 200 dessins et photographies provenant directement des fonds d'archives des constructeurs. Cet ouvrage est le résultat du projet de coopération transnationale "ARCHING : ARchives d'INGénierie européenne" (2010-2012) conduit dans le cadre du programme Culture 2007-2013 de la Commission européenne, auquel ont participé cinq institutions : l'Ecomusée du Bois-du-Luc (Belgique), la Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine (France), InVisu (CNRS-INHA) (France), le Dipartimento di Architettura disegno-storia-progetto de l'université de Florence (Italie), Archmuseum (Turquie)

Construire au-delà de la Méditerranée

Suez, Abou Simbel, Le Caire, Alger, Casablanca, Istanbul... Pour la première fois, des historiens de l'architecture et des conservateurs d'archives nous permettent d'accéder à un patrimoine culturel européen exceptionnel et méconnu : les archives produites par les entreprises du bâtiment et des travaux publics actives au sud de la Méditerranée, entre 1860 et 1970. Ouvrages d'art en acier ou béton armé, cités pour ouvriers et cadres expatriés, bâtiments publics mais aussi mobilier, décors, ouvrages effectués par des artisans d'art... Toutes ces réalisations témoignent d'une époque d'intenses échanges humains, techniques, et artistiques entre l'Europe et l'arc sud-est de la Méditerranée. Photographies anciennes destinées à promouvoir le travail des entrepreneurs, photographies de chantier, dessins d'architectes, croquis et carnets documentant les innovations techniques, plaquettes publicitaires... le livre est illustré par plus de 200 dessins et photographies provenant directement des fonds d'archives des constructeurs. Cet ouvrage est le résultat du projet de coopération transnationale "ARCHING : ARchives d'INGénierie européenne" (2010-2012) conduit dans le cadre du programme Culture 2007-2013 de la Commission européenne, auquel ont participé cinq institutions : l'Ecomusée du Bois-du-Luc (Belgique), la Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine (France), InVisu (CNRS-INHA) (France), le Dipartimento di Architettura disegno-storia-progetto de l'université de Florence (Italie), Archmuseum (Turquie).Suez, Abu Simbel, Cairo, Algiers, Casablanca, Istanbul... This work of pioneering research by architectural historians and archivists gives us access to an exceptional field of European cultural heritage: the records of buildings and public works contractors active on the southern shores of the Mediterranean between 1860 and 1970. It covers all the construction trades, from steel or reinforced concrete bridges and dams, housing for laborers and expats, and public buildings, but also furniture, decoration, and studio crafts. All of these projects attest to the intensity of the human, technical, and artistic exchanges occurring in this period between Europe and the south-eastern Mediterranean rim. This book is illustrated with over 200 rare drawings and photographs drawn directly from the builders'archives, including old photos intended to promote the contractor's business, construction site photos, architects' plans, sketches, and notes documenting technical innovations, and vintage advertising brochures, etc. This book is the product of the transnational cooperation project "ARCHING: ARChives d'INGénierie européennes" (2010-2012) carried out as part of the European Commission Culture Programme 2007-2013, in conjunction with five institutions: the Ecomusée du Bois-du-Luc (Belgium), the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine (France), InVisu (CNRS-INHA) (France), the Dipartimento di Architettura disegno-storia-progetto of the University of Florence (Italy) and the Archmuseum (Turkey)