Building the "black" city: approaches developed by Portuguese architects in colonial Africa

Abstract

In the final period of Portuguese colonization (1945-1975), architects faced a challenge: to build the city for the local populations. This paper intends to explain the process of discovery of the native settlements and how its study contributed to develop a "black" city planned by architects. From the late 1950s on, the urban space and housing for the African populations is one of the main architectural and urban programs carried by Portuguese architects in Africa. Facing the fact of being economically impracticable and culturally undesirable to build neighbourhoods for the "native" population in a European canon, architects start to survey the African habitat in missions. The African house is one of the most studied subjects.