by: Ellen C. Caldwell
for JSTOR Daily
The New York Times Style Magazine recently featured Accra, Ghana as “Africa’s Capital of Cool.” And a month earlier, The Financial Times highlighted Ghana’s contemporary art scene, as it is gaining international prominence. With this recent interest in Ghana’s cultural richness, it is particularly interesting to note the city’s distinctive architectural history.
Janet Berry Hess analyzed the roots underlying what The Times terms Ghana’s “underappreciated midcentury architecture” in greater detail. Hess examines the ties between nationalism, identity, and idealism through monuments, public spaces, and architecture.
Because Ghana holds a distinct place in African history, Hess analyzes architecture from “Preindependence Accra,” or early trading days, to Great Britain’s “Gold Coast” and its colonial administration, to 1957 independence, all the way to post-independence 2000s…