Otto Koenigsberger and the Course on Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association, London. Some Notes on the Portuguese Context

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52200/48.A.859CKS27

Keywords:

Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern housing

Abstract

Otto Koenigsberger is considered a pioneer in researching specific models and technical solutions for architecture and planning in the tropics. Educated within the core of the European Modern Movement, under the mentorship of Hans Poelzig, Bruno Taut and Ernst May, Koenigsberger moves away from the ideal and expressionist realm to the real and specific context whilst working in India. This non–western experience triggers an interest in developing countries, mainly tropical ones. In 1954, Koenigsberger conceives a new course on Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association in London, followed by a great number of architects, such as the Portuguese Luís Possolo, António Seabra and Schiappa de Campos, who would apply their learning in the countries of “Portuguese Africa”, as it was formerly known.

How to Cite

Figueira, J., & Gil, B. (2013). Otto Koenigsberger and the Course on Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association, London. Some Notes on the Portuguese Context. Docomomo Journal, (48), 70–75. https://doi.org/10.52200/48.A.859CKS27

Published

2013-07-01

Issue

No. 48 (2013): Modern Africa, Tropical Architecture

Section

Essays

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Copyright (c) 2013 Jorge Figueira, Bruno Gil

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Author Biographies

Jorge Figueira, University of Coimbra

Graduated in Architecture at the University of Porto in 1992. PhD Degree at the University of Coimbra in 2009. He is Director and Assistant Professor at the University of Coimbra’s Department of Architecture and Researcher at the Social Studies Centre (University of Coimbra). He is also the author of several books on contemporary architecture, including O Arquitecto Azul, Coimbra University Press, 2010 and Reescrever o Pós–Moderno, Dafne, 2011.

Bruno Gil, University of Coimbra

Graduated in Architecture at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, in 2005. He is currently developing a PhD on the practice of architectural research at the Centre for Social Studies and at the Department of Architecture, University of Coimbra, with a grant from the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal. He was also the cofounder of NU magazine and its Director between 2003 and 2004.

References

Architectural Association School of Architecture, “Department of Tropical Studies: A Cross–Section of Recent Work and Teaching Methods”, Architectural Association Journal, 78, 1963, 302–309.

Baweja, Vandana, A Pre–history of Green Architecture: Otto Koenigsberger and Tropical Architecture, from Princely Mysore to Post–colonial London, A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Architecture), The University of Michigan, 2008.

Koenigsberger, Otto, “Tropical Planning Problems”, Paper presented at the Conference on Tropical Architecture, Otto Koenigsberger Archive, AA Archives, 1953.

Koenigsberger, Otto; Ingersoll, T. G.; Mayhew, A.; Szokolay, S. V., Manual of Tropical Housing and Building, London, Longman, 1974.

Koenigsberger, Otto. “Koenigsberger: Early Days Abroad”, Interview by David Toppin. The Architect’s Journal, July 7, 1982, 36–37.

Koenigsberger, Otto. Otto Koenigsberger Archive, London, Architectural Association Archives.

Le Roux, Hannah, “The Networks of Tropical Architecture”, The Journal of Architecture, 8, 3, 2003, 337–354.

Liscombe, Rhodri Windsor, “In–dependence: Otto Koenigsberger and modernist urban resettlement in India”, Planning Perspectives, 21, 2, 2006, 157–178.

Milheiro, Ana Vaz, Nos trópicos sem Le Corbusier, Lisboa, Relógio d’Água, 2012.

Saldanha, José Luis, Luís Possolo, Um arquitecto do Gabinete de Urbanização do Ultramar, Lisboa, CIAAM, 2012.

Spence, J. Mckay, “The New Role of the Architect in the Tropics”, Architectural Association Journal, 71, 1955, 56–60.