J. Max Bond Jr. and the appropriation of modernism in a library design in Ghana

Allan Balaara, Errol Haaroff, Alessandro Melis

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    617 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The paper draws on Bond’s architectural influences and critical thoughts on architecture in the context of his design response in the Bolgatanga Regional Library, to advance the idea on hybrid modernism in postcolonial Ghana. Bond considered the Library his first independent work and the most profound. However, as an architect-academic working alongside some of the celebrated modernist practitioners, Bond’s Library appears fairly influenced. Bond’s expression of modernism in the Library reflects the mediation of three cultures: the northern vernacular building culture and the weather; the principles of Western modernism; and his hybrid experiences. His response, much like other socio-climatic responses known to late tropical practices in Ghana, demonstrated how the architecture of the marginalised manifesting in concrete, also constitutes a reflection of the postcolonial mediation of space. Bond achieved this through relating to both the ideological and experiential approach to modernist regionalism.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)355-374
    JournalFabrications
    Volume28
    Issue number3
    Early online date26 Nov 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2018

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'J. Max Bond Jr. and the appropriation of modernism in a library design in Ghana'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this