Built from Dust: Earth, Soil and the Modern Afropolis – Exhibition
Reflecting on modern architecture in non-Western contexts, two upcoming exhibitions engage with research and art. Inspired by the Chinese proverb “Look at a leopard through a pipe – you can see one spot,” one exhibition offers a glimpse into the processes of bookmaking. The other, Built from Dust, centres on the reconstruction of Agadir after a devastating earthquake in 1960, bringing together archives and voices that reflect on urban transformation across the African continent.
26 February – 9 May 2025
Conference Engaging with Modern Afropoli Colloquium 25 February, 10 am – 4 pm; Opening 5 – 8 pm.
gta Exhibition Space, ETH Zurich, Hönggerberg.
The reconstruction of Agadir became a showcase for the aspirations, potentials and capacities of post-independence Morocco. International architects experimented with ultramodern and traditional forms of living to create an original urban reality: a new African city, a modern Afropolis. As part of nation-building and world-making efforts, many modern cities were born in post-independence Africa; Agadir was no exception. The exhibition creates a forum for discussing the capacities and challenges of the Afropolis, reflecting not only on the often untold history of these African cities, but also holding up a mirror to the complex and frequently contested urban realities they have created.
The work by the artists Younes Benslimane, M'barek Bouhchichi and Lungiswa Gqounta, the architects Salima Naji and Alexander Cyrus Poulikakos, and researchers working on African cities as diverse as Casablanca, Algiers, Addis Ababa, Kinshasa and Accra will explore how urbanisation in Africa, sparked by colonialism in the nineteenth century and accelerated by industrialisation and modernisation in the twentieth century, has led to the rise of large urban centres in a decolonising world. By rethinking the potentialities of earth architecture and the natural ecosystems entailed, the artists’ works seem to advocate for a critical reassessment of the legacy of modernist architecture, seeking for resilient and viable cohabitations.
Conference speakers include Tom Avermaete, M'barek Bouhchichi, Madeleine de Colnet, Kenny Cupers, Lahbib El Moumni, Sara Frikech, Lungiswa Gqunta, Hannah le Roux, Morad Montazami, Nadya Rouizem Labied, Giulia Scotto, Ola Uduku and Maxime Zaugg.