The city of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has more than 100 Art Deco buildings. They were constructed in the 1930s by Belgian colonizers as a European neighborhood where the Congolese weren't allowed -except for household help.
“Art Deco architecture was abundant in colonial cities in the 1920s and ‘30s,” says the architectural historian David Rifkind. “Colonial authorities liked Art Deco because it portrayed an image of technological modernization that was intended to present colonization as a benevolent and ‘civilizing’ gift to native inhabitants.” Its association with glamour and international travel, says Rifkind, gave the impression that the colonizers were dynamic and forward-thinking.
In Bukavu, colonial-era buildings exemplify a particular type of international Art Deco architecture that emerged in the 1930s, according to Adedoyin Teriba, an assistant professor of art and urban studies at Vassar College. “There is no doubt that the buildings exemplify ‘Streamline Moderne,’” says Teriba. The style was inspired by aerodynamic engineering, as seen in the curvilinear edges of many of Bukavu’s buildings, imitating the surfaces of airplanes.
To architects and historians, these buildings capture a signature style of colonialism, of an imperial drive toward the future. But for today’s residents, these buildings are a daily reminder of both a painful colonial history and a frustrated, politically futile present.
While these buildings are a reminder of colonization, they are also beautiful and well-built, but are falling into disrepair. Preservationists want to keep them as both a part of history and as a tourist draw. Read about the Art Deco architecture of Bukavu at Atlas Obscura.
(Image credit: Esther Nsapu for Atlas Obscura)