Architects from Socialist Countries in Ghana (1957-67): Modern Architecture and Mondialisation

摘要

When seen from Labadi Road, the buildings of Accra's International Trade Fair (ITF) appear among abandoned billboards, scarce trees that offer shade to resting taxi drivers, and tables where coconuts, bottled water, sweets, and telephone cards are sold next to the road. The buildings neighbor the La settlement, where streets meander between houses, shops, bars, schools, and shrines, while on the other side of Labadi Road, at the seashore, a luxurious housing estate is under construction next to upscale hotels that overlook Labadi Beach. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's leader after the country achieved independence (1957), initiated the fair as a prestige project, but it was opened on 1 February 1967 by Joseph Arthur Ankrah, the chairman of the National Liberation Council, who led the putsch that toppled Nkrumah in 1966 (Figure 1). Once conveying a sense of radical modernity, the buildings have suffered from underinvestment and insufficient maintenance, but most of them are still in use, rented for exhibitions that take place every few months, for political rallies, and for religious services (Figure 2).