Origins and traditions
Throughout its history, the Republic of Congo has been marked by the great kingdoms that imposed both political and spiritual power, with architecture as a means of illustrating this power for all to see. Among the witnesses to these kingdoms is the Domaine Royal de Mbé, the central link in the Téké kingdom. In Téké tradition, a capital was abandoned each time a sovereign died. Once abandoned, the capital returned to nature to become a sacred forest. Here, the remains of the royal domain include the ancient capital of Mbé and the queen's residence, as well as magico-religious elements such as sacred springs and waterfalls providing water for royal rites, and a sacred area where initiation rites were performed.
Another historic landmark is the Old Slave Port of Loango. Here you can discover both the history of the Kingdom of Loango, whose key witness is the Royal Palace, with its vast rooms now transformed into a museum, and the history of the slave trade. Stele marking the departure of the caravans, transaction market and landing stage mark what was one of the largest transoceanic deportation operations. The sacred trees, meanwhile, show that despite everything, the local people never gave up on their identities and traditions, performing rituals to protect their souls before departure. An extremely moving site, never to be forgotten.
This relationship with nature is also evident in the vernacular architecture. Originally, villages were mostly built on hilltops, to protect their inhabitants from attack and flooding. Today, however, many are built close to communication routes, whether river, road or rail. The basic unit of the village is the clan, which occupies a quarter, often separated from other quarters by hedges of vegetation. Vegetation is also present within the villages, with particular importance given to fruit trees. Among the village's landmark buildings are : the men's house, with walls of baked or mud brick or poto-poto, often whitewashed and decorated with motifs; the hut-kitchen, a place reserved for women; the palaver hut, where the community gathers and which can range from a basic form (poles supporting a thatch or palm-raphia tile roof) to a more elaborate one (adobe construction); ovens (bread and brick); cowsheds; granaries and chicken coops; and cocoa bean driers, small fixed huts with mat or sheet metal roofs and rails on which the drying racks slide.. a structure that earned them the nickname "bus dryers"! In terms of individual housing, huts are generally rectangular in plan, with conical roofs or roofs with 2 or 4 slopes. In savannah areas, the preferred materials are straw or vegetable tiles for the roof, and cob (a mixture of mud and straw or palm leaves) for the walls. In forested areas, roofs are usually made from bamboo tiles or woven palm leaves. Walls, on the other hand, are generally built from mud applied to wooden or raffia laths, forming a wattle-and-daub system. In the south, you can also see houses built from split planks. Today, these natural materials are tending to give way to more modern materials such as concrete and sheet metal. Despite this, some fascinating traditional dwellings still survive. Such is the case of pygmy huts made entirely of plant materials. These huts consist of a flexible wooden frame bent into a dome shape, to which fine branches and then large leaves are applied, to which various plant fibers are added to make the whole more solid and watertight. The Bangangulu have developed long huts with ribbed walls made of woven palm-raphia mats, the gable often flanked by a veranda. In Batéké country, some huts are built entirely of straw, with the walls made of elements that can be easily dismantled, such as woven straw plates. The Téké are also famous for their decorative work, which can be seen in their basketry furniture and in the art of brightly painted wooden planks with geometric patterns on the hut walls.
Colonial period
The first French settlement was established in 1880. The territory was then organized into concessions to promote the exploitation of resources. Today a district of Brazzaville, Poto-Poto was founded in 1900 on marshy land. The colonial administration was quick to put its stamp on the area. Poto-Poto was then entirely redesigned according to a checkerboard master plan. A few brick huts with 4-sided tin roofs remain from this era. Pointe-Noire was another area to undergo major urban planning. From the 1920s onwards, the city became a commercial and economic center, thanks in particular to the advent of the railroad. The colonial administration divided the city into "European zones" and "indigenous zones". As the population grew, the city expanded radially, with the addition of ring roads linked by large avenues, whose rectilinear appearance was reminiscent of Haussmann's Paris. The division into squared-off blocks and plots enabled the colonial administration to better manage the "indigenous zones". Spatial and racial segregation is evident in the nature of the buildings, which in the "indigenous zones" are still precarious and mostly made of salvaged materials. In "European zones", on the other hand, everything is codified and regulated (proportions, alignments, materials used, styles) and great importance is given to green spaces that "air" the urban space. This pattern is also found in Brazzaville, which boasts the oldest cathedral in Central Africa: the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur, with its impressive brick silhouette. With its arcades, openwork balustrades and pilasters adorning the facades of its symmetrical wings, the Palais du Peuple is another example of colonial architecture with echoes of the neoclassical. It wasn't until the post-war years that new styles emerged. The white, uncluttered Villa du Directeur de la Caisse Centrale d'Outre-Mer in Brazzaville, with its stilted veranda reminiscent of an ocean liner, is a fine example of Art Deco. At the same time, many civil servants from south-west France brought with them the architectural traditions of their home regions. Between modernity and rusticity, the neo-basque style, with its half-timbering, steep tile roofs and colorful shutters, was very popular. In Brazzaville's Quartier du Clairon, the old officers' houses are perfect examples. But it's undoubtedly the Gare de Pointe-Noire that offers the finest example of this historicizing modernity. It's a copy of the Trouville train station! Look at its arcades, clock tower and high gables. It was during this period that Brazzaville-la-verte, as it was then known, became a veritable architectural laboratory, witnessing the birth of an astonishing tropical modernism. Jean Prouvé's Maisons Tropicales are famous examples. Designed in the master's workshops in Nancy, these prefabricated structures were reassembled, notably on Avenue Paul Doumer, not far from Brazzaville's main post office. Although they have undergone modifications and deterioration over the years, they nevertheless retain all the features that made them so modern in the 1950s: superb aluminum bodywork with ventilation slots and the famous Prouvé portholes, adjustable awnings and sunshades, balconies and verandas with elegant railings. Jean Prouvé was also involved in another landmark project of the period: the Unité d'Habitation d'Air France, nicknamed the "red building" by local residents because of the red sandstone in which it is constructed. Designed in 1952 by 4 disciples of Le Corbusier, the building takes up the great ideas of the modernist master, with its 140 m length punctuated by brise-soleils and ventilation chimneys, and overhung by roof terraces. Inside, the furniture was entirely designed by Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand, one of the greatest figures of French design. Unfortunately, many of these treasures were looted during the Civil War, when the building was used as a military HQ. Henri Chomette, an architect who worked in many of France's colonies, designed the Immeuble de la Société Générale, and Henri-Jean Calsat endowed the capital with its first General Hospital. But the two greatest architects of this modernist revival were Roger Lelièvre, better known as Roger Erell (after his initials RL!), and Jean-Yves Normand. A leading figure in the French Resistance, Roger Erell was chosen by De Gaulle himself to work in the Public Works Department in Brazzaville, which in 1941 was the capital of Free France. His credo was simple: combine all the novelties of modernity with the potential of local materials and styles, such as the mauve sandstone that abounds on the banks of the Congo River. He was responsible for the Basilique Sainte-Anne, with its large roof of green glazed tiles reminiscent of a snake's skin, its large openings without stained glass windows for constant ventilation, and its large masonry vault protecting a nave and trefoil apses. Erell also designed the Marien-Ngouabi University, with its geometrically clad facade, the Brazza Lighthouse and the Félix Eboué Stadium. But his most famous work is the Case De Gaulle, now the residence of the French Ambassador. Conceived as "a stopping-off place for distinguished guests", the building is based on the same modernist classicism as the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. In sandstone and concrete, pilasters, balustrades protecting the terraces and claustras serving as sunshades enliven this handsome edifice. Roger Erell collaborated with Jean-Yves Normand to rethink urban planning in Brazzaville. Major axes were used to delineate the city's different zones. The two architects were particularly interested in Avenue Foch, which they equipped with imposing arcades to protect pedestrians from sun and rain. The avenue creates beautiful perspectives on the Hôtel de Ville designed by Normand. Its 2 superimposed staggered facades are adorned with rows of 7 columns, in reference to the 7 arts. Its wide staircase with black and white flagstones is impressive. The Palais de Justice is another of his fine creations, and a masterpiece of this climatic architecture that leaves nothing to chance to adapt perfectly to the environment: structures arranged according to prevailing winds and sun exposure, porticos creating large areas of shade, large bays with movable partitions to modulate air and light, furniture in local wood. A reference to local history can be found in the Eglise Notre-Dame-du Rosaire, whose façade is modelled on the Ngongui, a traditional Congolese bell.
Since Independence
To celebrate its independence, the country was equipped with modern buildings featuring the leading material of the day, concrete. Old structures were also replaced, such as the Brazzaville train station. A definitive break with the colonial past. Churches, too, are changing silhouette, as shown by the Eglise Saint-Christophe in Pointe-Noire, with its rendered breeze-block walls punctuated by clerestories, and its metal framework supporting a galvanized sheet metal roof. Modernity and sobriety dominate. Like many of its neighbors, the Republic of Congo attracted the interest of foreign capital, particularly Russian and Chinese, who financed numerous construction projects, such as the Palais des Congrès and the Ecole d'Administration et de Magistrature. Very quickly, the country also experienced galloping urbanization, leading to serious housing problems. It is estimated that 70% of the population lives in cities, including 37% in the Brazzaville area alone. With no real regulations or development plans, the capital is growing in an anarchic fashion, seeing the emergence of numerous neighborhoods of makeshift self-buildings. Works programs are sometimes launched, but their implementation is complicated by cost issues, as in the Jacques Opangault and Talangaï neighborhoods. The latter was opened up thanks to the 6,865 m-long Talangaï-Kintélé cable-stayed viaduct. In spite of this, the country launched a number of major projects to demonstrate its economic prosperity, including the 106 m-high Tour Nabemba, and the 135 m-high Tours Jumelles in the Mpila district, which will be inaugurated in October 2023. In addition to the constraints of urbanization, there are also the problems associated with global warming. In response, some architects are opting for more sustainable designs, without sacrificing modernity. The Centre des Congrès de Kintélé is a good example. Large colonnades provide protection from the elements while opening up spaces to the outside, windows are set deep into the walls and protected by screens, water is present everywhere in the form of fountains and waterfalls offering real islands of freshness, while the natural colors of the building allow it to blend harmoniously into its environment, which has been altered very little, the architects having tried to keep excavations to a minimum. The Musée du Cercle Africain in Pointe-Noire is a fine example of what rehabilitation can offer. Wide terraces and modular stage areas have been added to the 1947 Art Deco building. Other interesting projects are in the pipeline, such as the Africanews office tower in Brazzaville. Perched on 4 totem-like pillars, the tower will also feature a double wooden roof and a green roof terrace, with the traditional diamond motif repeated throughout, as a link to the country's riches. To be continued!
