Lome: The Latest Architecture and News

Across different climates and building cultures, many contemporary projects are working with local ways of building in new ways. Earth walls, bamboo structures, shaded thresholds, and collective construction processes are being reconsidered not as references, but as tools for the conditions architecture is facing now and will continue to face.

In these projects, vernacular knowledge appears through practical decisions: how to cool a building without machines, how to build with what is nearby, how to make a structure easier to repair, and how to keep construction knowledge within the community that will use it. The conditions making this knowledge necessary are not coming. They are already here.

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In late 2024, an event was held in the grounds of the recently refurbished colonial-era Palais de Lomé in the capital of Togo. Students from the architecture university of Lomé were attending the first Lomé Architecture Encounters (RAL #1), curated by the transdisciplinary Studio NEiDA, and which involved lectures, film screenings, workshops, and building visits. A parallel exhibition displayed the country's most significant architecture through history. The purpose of the event was to explore the architectural heritage of Togo, and it would be the start of a journey that crosses borders, asking questions about the conservation of modern heritage. Unlike colonial buildings like the Palais de Lomé itself, which are more appreciated and readily restored, neglected modern buildings like the Hôtel de la Paix require creative, bottom-up approaches to return them to their former vitality.

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The Republic of Togo presents its first pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2025 with a project titled Considering Togo's Architectural Heritage. The inaugural pavilion is curated by Studio NEiDA, an architecture and research practice co-founded by architect Jeanne Autran-Edorh and curator Fabiola Büchele. Based in Lomé and Berlin, the studio is dedicated to equitable design processes, applying an Afrocentric lens to contemporary architectural discourse. The exhibition, located at Venice's Squero Castello, explores Togo's architectural narratives from the early 20th century, focusing on themes of conservation and transformation.

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Traveling on land through vast regional areas of African countries has been an inefficient ordeal, particularly in West Africa. Google Maps optimistically estimates it would take 53 hours to drive nonstop from Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, to Dakar, Senegal's capital. However, this estimate doesn't account for the poor road infrastructure, complex border crossings, and socio-economic challenges that realistically extend the journey to about a week.

This is why the ongoing Trans-West African Coastal Highway project offers a great opportunity to connect and unlock the region's potential. This project, also known as TAH 7, is a transnational highway initiative linking 12 West African coastal nations, from Mauritania in the northwest to Nigeria in the east. Its gradual construction opens new avenues for freight movement, rail infrastructure, and, more importantly, innovative forms of architecture around borders, addressing their unique socio-cultural functions.

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