Continuing from the previous post, the tyranny of Alubond is manifest not just in the new buildings but in the renovation of the old.
Here is a old government building on Yaoundé’s main mall, Boulevard du 20 Mai, which is commencing renovation. Almost certainly designed and constructed prior to 1970, this handsome mid-century modern façade is scheduled, as the rendering shows, to be concealed behind aluminum composite cladding. The deep concrete recesses and vertical shade fins will disappear under a shiny elevation of cheap panels.
While any building owner has the right to renovate, in many West African cities over the last few years I have noticed this phenomenon where an admirable example of vintage modern architecture being wallpapered over with increasingly-ubiquitous alubond, transforming a unique example of architectural heritage into just another box of cladding, both glossy and dull in its cheapness. Photo 2019 Bauzeitgeist. #architecture #building#vintagearchitecture#architecturalheritage#architecturalhistory#historicpreservation#architecturalpreservation#modernarchitecture#modernistarchitecture #alubond#cladding #africanarchitecture