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Film still of Unity Hall, KNUST
Events | Exhibitions

Tropical Modernism exhibition at the V&A

2 March – 22 September 2024 | South Kensington, LONDON

The Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London explores the architectural styles of tropical modernism in West Africa and India. In the late 1940s, British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry adapted a modern aesthetic valuing function over ornament and applied this to the hot, humid conditions of West Africa.

Following independence, the prime ministers of India and Ghana commissioned major new projects in this style as a symbol of internationalism and progressiveness. The exhibition celebrates the styles created by national architects, who emphasized local context, creating alternative styles of modernism.

Tropical Modernism, despite its colonial associations, became an architectural symbol of a post-colonial future. The exhibition highlights architecture and modernism’s role in decolonisation and constructing national identity.

Image is a film still of Unity Hall, KNUST, Kumasi by John Owuso Addo and Miro Marasović – for ‘Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence’ © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. V&A

University College, Ibadan: Library veranda. Courtesy of RIBA.
University College, Ibadan: Library veranda. Courtesy of RIBA.
Boy and concrete screen at University College Ibadan, 1962. Courtesy of RIBA
Boy and concrete screen at University College Ibadan, 1962. Courtesy of RIBA
Black Star Square, Accra by Ghana Public Works Department - film still from 'Tropical Modernism_ Architecture and Power in West Africa’, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Black Star Square, Accra by Ghana Public Works Department – film still from ‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa’, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Film still of Senior Staff Club House
Film still of Senior Staff Club House, KNUST, Kumasi by Miro Marasović, Nikso Ciko and John Owuso Addo – for ‘Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence’ © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Film still of Scott House, Accra by Kenneth Scott - for 'Tropical Modernism - Architecture and Independence', © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Film still of Scott House, Accra by Kenneth Scott – for ‘Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence’, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry with a model of one of their many buildings for the Gold Coast, 1945. Image courtesy of RIBA
Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry with a model of one of their many buildings for the Gold Coast, 1945. Image courtesy of RIBA
Diagram of a brise soleil at Aburi Girl’s School, Ghana, from Tropical Architecture in the Humid Zone, 1956, publisher B.T Batsford, Courtesy of RIBA_
Diagram of a brise soleil at Aburi Girl’s School, Ghana, from Tropical Architecture in the Humid Zone, 1956, publisher B.T Batsford, Courtesy of RIBA.
Tower of Shadows, Chandigarh (India). Scal model, 1957, Le Corbusier (Jeanneret, Charles-Edouard 1887-1965) (c) The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Scala, Florence
Tower of Shadows, Chandigarh (India). Scale model, 1957, Le Corbusier (Jeanneret, Charles-Edouard 1887-1965) (c) The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Scala, Florence
model for the Capitol Complex, Chandigarh
Pierre Jeanneret, Giani Rattan Singh (standing) at the Architects’ Office, Sector 19, with 2 components of a model for the Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, India, circa 1953 and 1954. Pierre Jeanneret fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture. Gift of Jacqueline Jeanneret. © CCA
Le Corbusier in Chandigarh with the plan of the city and a model of the Modular Man, his universal system of proportion, 1951 (c) FDL, ADAGP 2014
Le Corbusier in Chandigarh with the plan of the city and a model of the Modular Man, his universal system of proportion, 1951 © FDL, ADAGP 2014
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism - Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism - Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London (26)
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London (26)
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism - Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism - Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism - Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Installation shot of Tropical Modernism – Architecture and Independence at the V&A South Kensington (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London