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This paper discusses the presence of a cemetery in the city of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was a central point for the mining community in East Africa up until the 1960s. The cemetery houses distinct burial areas for Belgian, Greeks, Jews and other foreign-nationals who had lived, worked and died in this central African mining town. This paper explores how the cemetery is viewed and relates to Lubumbashi’s current city plan, and as importantly, how some former groups such as the Jewish community have built up ‘memory’-links with forebears who lived in this part of Central Africa.

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co-author: Remi Vaughan Richards

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This paper explores the evolving heritage-tourism movement in Lagos. A number of groups, the most prominent being ‘Legacy’, have begun to actively research and promote Lagos’s historical built environment as a part of its ‘heritage’ incorporating early ‘Brazilian’-influence architecture, missionary buildings and other pre-colonial traditional buildings in the city. There is also a move to incorporate more recent ‘modern movement buildings into this body of heritage architecture. Within the context of the rapidly modernizing metropolis of 10-million, what role does or can heritage, and the past built environment play? Who are the protagonists, in this emerging built heritage market and who are the real beneficiaries? This paper seeks to analyze the current movement and also suggest possible ways to incorporate history and built heritage into the public as well as the tourist memory.

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co-author: Tânia Ramos

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Drawing on ongoing research Portuguese architectural networks in Lusaphone Africa, this paper considers; pre-independence architecture and building in the Mozambican capital city Lourenço Marques, (Maputo), the architects and architecture that it produced. The paper examines what effect this architecture has had on the city’s image and development from pre-independence times, through the independence struggle to the present day.

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co-author: Bernard Toulier

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This is a proposal to deliver a photographic essay, focusing on the ubiquitous ‘balon’ houses; prefabricated concrete small family dwellings, originated in the USA, and introduced by architects and planners to settlements and cities throughout West and Central Africa in the 1950s. Whilst many of these houses still exist, their adaptation and contemporary context give limited visual references or cues to their history and significance in past planning ideals across Africa.