The 1960s and 70s were an explosive period for experimental architecture in Africa – from vast Toblerone-shaped exhibition centres to giant lily-bud auditoriums. Swiss architect Manuel Herz has tracked down 80 of these lost monuments of African independence for a book, African Modernism
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| A line of Toblerone-shaped pavilions of the KNUST stadium in Kumasi, Ghana. By KNUST Development Office, 1964-67 Photo: Alexia Webster/Park Books |
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| The lily-bud shaped auditorium of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The 32-storey venue was tripled in height after the World Bank decided to host its annual meeting in Nairobi in 1973 Photo: Iwan Baan/Park Books |
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| The Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, which was initiated by independent Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, as a luxury HQ for the ruling Kanu party. Designed by Norwegian architect Karl Henrik Nøstvik, 1967-73 Photo: Iwan Baan/Park Books |
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| The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. Designed by British architect James Cubitt in 1956 |
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| Some of the many triangular prisms that form the FIDAK exhibition centre, which was built in 1975 in the Senegalese capital Dakar to host the country’s biennial international trade fair. Designed by French architects Jean Francois Lamoureux and Jean-Louis Marin Photo: Iwan Baan/Park Books |
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| The striking white tower of the Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. By Israeli architects Heinz Fenchel and Thomas Leitersdorf, 1962-70 Photo: Iwan Baan/Park Books |
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| One of the open galleries at the University of Zambia in Lusaka. Arranged along an axial spine, the faculty buildings have exposed staircases with kiosks and seating areas built in to create a street-like bustle. By South African architect Julian Elliott, 1965-70 Photo: Iwan Baan/Park Books |
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| The great concrete La Pyramide, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, was a brave attempt to reinvent the city’s covered market. However, it failed due to its high maintenance costs and inefficient design, and has been empty since the 1980s. By Italian architect Rinaldo Olivieri, 1973 Photo: Iwan Baan/Park Books |
Source: Afro modernism: Africa's avant-garde architecture boom – in pictures
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