Membership
Become a Member and enjoy free access to exhibitions, previews, priority booking, freshly curated content and much more.
Join today
Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence
Tropical Modernism was an architectural style developed in the hot, humid conditions of West Africa in the 1940s. After independence, India and Ghana adopted the style as a symbol of modernity and progressiveness, distinct from colonial culture.
Exhibition highlights
-
Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, by Fry, Drew & Partners, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence' -
Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry with a model of one of their many buildings for the Gold Coast, 1 945. Image courtesy RIBA -
Scott House, Accra by Kenneth Scott, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence' -
Eduardo Paolozzi, Klokvormig Masker, 1946 – 47. Courtesy Flowers Gallery, London -
Sick Hagemeyer shop assistant as a seventies icon posing in front of the United Trading Company headquarters, Accra, 1971 -
Illustration from The Architectural Review, 1953. Courtesy RIBA Collections. © Gordon Cullen Estate -
Community Centre, Accra, 1953. Image courtesy RIBA. -
Senior Staff Club House, KNUST, Kumasi by Miro Marasović, Nikso Ciko and John Owuso Addo, film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence' -
Tower of Shadows, Chandigarh (India). Scale model, 1957, Le Corbusier (Jeanneret, Charles-Edouard 1887 – 1965) -
Aditya Prakash, photo album of architectural projects, people, landscapes, and Aditya Prakash, about 1960s – 2000s -
Le Corbusier in Chandigarh with the plan of the city and a model of the Modular Man, his universal system of proportion, 1951
Related events
Features
About the Tropical Modernism exhibition
About the Tropical Modernism exhibition
Find out more about 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence'
What is Tropical Modernism?
What is Tropical Modernism?
Discover the 'Bauhaus in the Tropics'
Inside mid-century Tropical Modernist architecture
Inside mid-century Tropical Modernist architecture
See inside mid-century buildings in West Africa
The Chandigarh Chair
The Chandigarh Chair
Discover the untold origin story of a design classic
Explore books on architecture, furniture and interior design. Every purchase supports the V&A.
Shop now
Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence
Supported by James Bartos and Celia and Edward Atkin CBE
Header image:
Unity Hall, KNUST, Kumasi by John Owuso Addo and Miro Marasović – film still from 'Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa'. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London