CLIMATE AND CULTURE. MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN AFRICA

Abstract

The climate-responsive design was a reality in expansion in the African Sub-Saharan regions since the 1950s. Such is the case of Angola and Mozambique, wide territories of sub-Saharan Africa testifying a significant developing impulse between the end of World War II and the Portuguese democratic revolution of 24th April 1974 which, the following year, led to the political independence of these two on forward African countries. Formal, technological and ideological quests for Modern Movement emerged as a cultural stimulus linked to geographical and climatic specificities, and these promoted new expressions and scales. The adaptation to the local climate was based on architectural programs and solutions developed to exploit the use of open spaces, using circulation galleries and introducing devices to maintain permanent air circulation and to control the admission of direct sunlight.