Kinshasa: K.O, but still standing…
Trained architect and urban-planner Nicolas-Patience Basabose shares his time between Kinshasa in the Congo and Johannesburg in South Africa. As head of Design for Basabose Studio, the research and design company he set up to focus on African urban planning and contemporary architecture, he shares with us the secrets of Kin, this indomitable urban centre and fascinating research subject for a whole new generation of urban planners and architects.
Can you introduce us to Kinshasa?
From an urban standpoint, Kinshasa is a dysfunctional megalopolis, which has been through a rather extraordinary transformation over the past 40 years. Pinned down by infrastructure and legislation that have not followed the same dynamic, the city today is doing its best to stay standing by embracing an ever-growing population.
Historically, the site of today’s city of Kinshasa was occupied for several centuries by the Teke and Humbu peoples. It was an archipelago of already quite substantial villages, that grew into a flourishing trading centre during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1880, the population of Kinshasa was estimated at 30.000. By 1984, an official census established it at 2.6 million. And in 2020, the number of Kinshasans is estimated at 15 million.
How did the city develop structurally?
In the absence of any urban planning, the city developed in an organised chaos into various suburban zones. The only urbanised zones to this day are the city centre – which was the European neighbourhood during the colonisation era – and the former “indigenous areas” that surrounded it.
The city centre features a modern tropical architecture, while the former indigenous areas are in line with the colonial notion that dormitory towns were required nearby to supply workers. The latter have the best water, electricity and road services (amongst others), whereas the more recent suburbs - which mushroomed under the Mobutu dictatorship – are typified by a structural chaos that is quite difficult to put right in the absence of a new urban policy at regional and national level.
How do you see colonial architecture vs. postcolonial architecture?
Architecture in the Congo has a strange and fascinating identity.
Colonial architecture is more visible in the historical heart of the city, including the city centre and the indigenous areas all around it. It stands out because of the Belgians’ desire to design a tropical paradise for their nationals in the colony. There are sumptuous villas, as well as more modest ones, but all have kept an air of luxury and grandeur that was not to be found in the home country. From the highest to the lowest ranking officer, this promise of comfort was, it seems, the biggest draw for the home-country population and led to the establishment of this extremely wealthy colony.
Postcolonial architecture probably reached its peak when Congolese architects became involved in the massive political movement led by Mobutu [Sese Seko] in Zaire (the DR of the Congo’s former name), i.e. the “Return to authenticity” programme. It was an interesting period for architecture and the visual arts.
Speaking of Mobutu, he introduced the era of gigantism. Can you tell us more?
Stemming from Mobutu’s “Return to authenticity” programme, a whole new ‘language’ was developed by Congolese architects and their European collaborators at the time. This new language produced a beautiful legacy in terms of public architecture and urban planning, as well as some examples of private dwellings for those who could afford it.
Architects played a major part in defining this programme for the citizens, conjuring up a memorable and monumental architectural approach to buildings, public spaces, monuments and even whole new neighbourhoods built by the masters of the time, namely Eugène Palumbo, Fernand Tala-Ngai and others from the same generation. They were the fathers of Congolese postcolonial architecture. They developed a version of the modernist/Art Nouveau movement in the context of a definite quest for iconicity rooted in ancestral imagery or visual references.
Unfortunately, the political order and Congolese economy having deteriorated over the last few decades put a stop to this quest for cultural iconicity, making way for all sorts of informality and uncontrolled improvisation, especially in the newer suburbs.
A new generation of architects seems interested in exploring this forgotten path and discovering what we could have become if urban planning had been pursued. It is very promising. I can solemnly declare that a new, responsible form of architecture is developing across the country. These architects are motivated by a desire to bring something new and relevant in socio-cultural and socio-economic terms.
This is why we launched “Congo Habitat*”, a collaborative initiative working towards creating habitable and sustainable environments for communities right across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a consultative and collaborative think-tank, bringing together urban planners, students in urban planning, socio-political bodies, as well as all stakeholders playing a key part in Congolese life.
How can you describe Kinshasans?
Their main trait, to me, is independence. They live independently from the political, economic, social and even cultural orders. Considering all the challenges the inhabitants face on a daily basis in the Congo, they have managed to live without waiting for governmental intervention. This resourcefulness is what defines Kinshasans in all aspects of their lives. Kinshasa is an ever-challenging city. The failure of State and sickening corruption now common at all levels of politics, social and economic life have forced Kinshasans to invent a parallel reality to ensure they live to see another day. In Kinshasa, where unemployment rates are estimated at 80-90% in the formal sector, ordinary people scramble to live a modest and graceful life. Everything can be negotiated amongst Kinshasans, they pull together. It is with this sense of community, passive and fluid more often than not, that ordinary Kinshasans have developed a model to access food, water, medicine and education. The Kinshasan spirit is to stand up today to see what tomorrow can bring.
words. Ifrikia Kengué
photos. Nizar Saleh
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