Resumen de La diffusion de l'architecture moderne: entre l'Afrique et le Brésil, La Corbusier comme repère
The Diaspora of Modern Architecture. Between Africa and Brazil, Le Corbusier as signpost.
This article explores the extension of Modern architecture in Africa, placing the accent on architectural productions in Angola and in Monzambique during the last decades of Portuguese colonial rule (1945-1975). It analyses the meaning of a modernity shared between rge continents ander the influence of Le Corbusier, Modern art and architecture. The technologies and the ideologies of the Modern movement emerged during the 1950s as a cultural stimulus articulated by geographical and climatic specifities which favored an unexpected modern creation. Adaptation to the climate is especially visible in te treatment of open spaces. The design of galleries of circulation, the introduction of means of permanent ventilation and of control of solar light are recurrent in all of these projects. They evoke principles developed by Le Corbusier for tropical climates, in North Africa and in South America.
Le Corbusier participated in the spread of Modern art in thr intercultural triangle connecting Paris, Brazil, and Africa. This initiatory journey towards Africa in order to find the trace of the tribal culture known through sculpted masks was undertaken by the Portuguese architects who had studied in the atelier of the Rue de Sèvres. They discovered "this end of the world" in the mysterious and wild Africa and found there the roots of modernity: the primitive -that is to say the primary, the original, and the authentic that they were seeking.
