The brand new ruins of public health. A tale of two buildings, Kinshasa, DRC - Sciences Po Accéder directement au contenu
Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2022

The brand new ruins of public health. A tale of two buildings, Kinshasa, DRC

Guillaume Lachenal

Résumé

This text reflects on the specific trajectory of two medical buildings in Kinshasa, which once epitomized the progressive ambitions of tropical modernism. From blueprints to ruins (and back), the uncanny history of the Institut d’Enseignement Médical (IEM) and of the Hopital du Cinquantenaire (formerly Hopital Cardiologique), both located in Kasa-Vubu, Kinshasa, captures what Achille Mbembe describes as the “interlocking of ages” that define the experience and materiality of time in Africa. The two buildings were conceived as showcases of development, then turned into ruins in the 1990’s, before being reborn in the 2010’s as emblems of Congolese renaissance, and immediately criticized as symptoms of the illusory nature of Joseph Kabila’s presidential promises. Their trajectory points simultaneously to various, at times opposed, political and aesthetical directions, towards the uncertain future of the post-millennial building boom, and back to the modernist age of planification and “social colonialism”.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-03917900 , version 1 (02-01-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-03917900 , version 1

Citer

Guillaume Lachenal. The brand new ruins of public health. A tale of two buildings, Kinshasa, DRC. Nina Berre, Wenzel Geissler et Johan Lagae (dir.), African Modernism and its Afterlives, Intellect, pp.284-297, 2022, 9781789384031. ⟨hal-03917900⟩
28 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More