Serbian architecture exports to countries in Africa from 1960 to 1990: Understanding Tropical Architecture

Cooperation between the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and countries in Africa started under the auspices of the Non-Aligned Movement. The movement was founded in Belgrade, Serbia in 1961, to provide partnership and support for countries that needed to gain their national identity and establish state and public institutions after a long period of colonization. Such collaboration continued during the 1990s, regardless of the issues that the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was facing. Engagements of architects from Serbia, one of the Yugoslavian republics, in the construction of numerous buildings in countries in Africa have not been fully researched and presented so far. It was not only the designs that were not properly presented to the wider audience, but also other activities and cooperation in the areas of urban planning and design, preservation of architectural heritage, or technical assistance to governments. This paper investigates the architecture export from Serbia to countries in Africa from 1960 to 1990, critically examining the concept of tropical modernism that was one of the most dominant ideas in architecture of Africa from 1950s until the end of the century. It also looks into whether architects from Serbia who designed for countries in Africa understood the countries’ cultural, economic, and environmental context.