This was Spanish Revolution. Modern urban defiance in Africa: Morocco, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea

Plácido González, Centro de Documentación y Estudios, Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico Laida Memba Ikuga, Departamento de Composición Arquitectónica, Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya Alejandro Muchada, Freelance architect and researcher Pablo Rabasco, Departamento de Historia del Arte, Universidad de Córdoba

This was Spanish revolution. Modern urban defiance in Africa: Morocco, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea. 1

1 This paper is a sample of wider ongoing research projects, performed by its authors in the referred territories: Equatorial Guinea (Memba); Morocco (Muchada), Equatorial Guinea, Sidi Ifni and Western Sahara (Rabasco, González).

This was Spanish revolution. Modern urban defiance in Africa: Morocco, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea

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Modern Movement architecture in Africa has become one of the most prolific research fields in the historiography of XXth century. This interest lies mainly on the study of modern residential urban peripheries, due to its peculiar features such as its scale and complex cultural transformations.

Modern Movement has been traditionally interpreted from a European perspective, translating the colonial enforcement of new models of urban development and architectural design. This was the case of Le Corbusier’s Obus Plan in Algiers, showing how the incursions of modernity into non-western societies were driven by alien canons with little relation with the original culture.

These canonical approaches led to a different perspective in the postwar era, which was centered in Africa: the work of the Atelier des Bâtisseurs (ATBAT) gained wide recognition, showing a subtle change of sensibility focusing on the topic of mass housing, as the touchstone of a new urban periphery in the Maghreb.

This shift of perspective was one of the manifestations of the new global order coming out from World War II, and is depicted by the progressive accession to independence by the African nations (starting by Libya, as early as 1951), as well as by the crisis of the Modern Movement after CIAM IX (1953).

The case of Spanish colonization In order to contribute to a deeper understanding of the concurrence of both circumstances, our purpose is to draw attention to this process in a yet relatively unknown context, as were the Spanish territories in Africa during the XXth century.

To illustrate this lack of knowledge, Udo Kultermann’s famous compilation Modern Architecture in Africa (1963), is still cited as an important reference. Kultermann’s work lacks examples of collective housing, focused mainly on public buildings and single family housing. Secondly, there is a complete absence of references to Spanish architecture, neither to the former Spanish Protectorate in Morocco (1912-1956), nor to the African Provinces of Sidi Ifni, Sahara (fechas) and Equatorial Guinea (1963-1968).

We may find several reasons for Kultermann’s oblivion, besides the fact that his sources were mainly British and French publications, such as L’Architecture d’aujourd’hui or Architectural Review. Besides there were also powerful geopolitical reasons: Spanish colonization of Africa was distinct from the British and French mainstream, especially due to the particular image that Franco’s regime had built around its African possessions.

The decline of the Spanish Empire, as well as the uneven industrial development and particular social and cultural tendencies, shifted Spain to a second-class status among European powers. Spain had to build a new colonial model, based on proximity and on a powerful propaganda emphasizing the humanitarian altruism of the colonizers,


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leading the local population to the goal of modernization. 2

These reasons that may be detected in Kultermann’s work also apply for the revision of Spanish colonial modern architecture, which has frequently been tagged as marginal and insignificant due to its limited scale, supposed lack of rationality and relaxed understanding of the canons of modernity. Hereby, we propose to shift the focus on the margins, on the insignificant, placing the question of periphery in a central spot of the contemporary urban discourse.

Periphery will be interpreted as the realm of never ending transformation, subject to the forces of normalization coming from the centers of power, and understood as the promise for the attainment of the maximum levels of liberty. The outskirts of Spanish colonial capitals will be the best scenario to show the infinite variety of modern architecture, with considerable amounts of typological radicalism leading to the formulation of a new social contract.

Spanish urbanism orientalism in Africa European powers were in charge of leading the course of development, from the modest scale of traditional settlements to the metropolitan reach of the modern city. Being this a common task, the particular difference of Spanish colonization lies on its dialectical proximity to the colonized society. Thus the contact with the locals yielded a deep transformation, of both the colonized culture and the means applied by the colonizer; which was qualified by diverse

2 CORDERO TORRES, José María. Política colonial. Madrid: Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica, 1953.

economic, aesthetic and constructive factors.

The typology of the Spanish urban Ensanche, which was an immediate translation of the speculative processes that had been shaping the European industrial metropolis, was the right framework for such attitude, due to its liberal conception of land uses and space management. Regarding the great variety of contexts: Islamic urbanity, the rural realm in the Rif area, the desert in the Sahara region, as well as the tropical forest in Equatorial Guinea, it is easy to see how the Spanish Administration carefully produced a variety of answers, dismissing the imposition of a uniform urban model.

Continuity and connection with the preexisting settlements, which were singular to Spanish colonial tradition, were interpreted with varying factors, including physical consolidation, military strategies, as well as the invention of historical and cultural affinities, as the outcome of a nostalgic version of the common history that was shared by both Spain and Africa.

The most radical case is that of El Aaiun in Western Sahara, which started as a military post with no urban development;

3 until it became the capital of the Spanish Sahara in 1946, gaining provincial autonomy in 1958. Its development is significantly ex novo, taking into account that part of the population living in the area were nomads,4 and that the colonizers were the

3 MEANA PALACIO, J. M., “El Aaiun de los pioneros: un poblado de los años 40” in Biblio 3W. Revista Bibliográfica de Ciencias Sociales, nº 627, vol. XI, 15.1.2006. 4 CARO BAROJA, J. Estudios Saharianos, Madrid: Calamar Ediciones, 2008.


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first to introduce a sedentary way of life and patterns of urbanization.

The Equatoguinean case showed the relationship with the previous stage of colonization, which was performed mainly by British colonizers. The Plaza de España in Malabo took the original traces of the first urbanization plan done by the British Governor Beecroft: it was located in the very axis of the Bay, where the market stood as the first institution of the city.5 From this place, the extension of the city pointed westwards, limited by the Avenue of Independence and Rey Malabo Street. The grid explicitly shows its speculative origins and its never ending potentiality. However, such liberal economic principles did not lead to racial mixture, since the neighborhoods inhabited by the local population had to be physically segregated from the colonial city.

On the other hand, the Plaza de España in Larache, completed 1912, showed the influence of Cerdá’s generic vision of the industrial city, providing unlimited radial growth and an equidistant grid of commercial streets. But at the same time, the design of this generic colonial city posed a gesture towards the preexisting city, which is completely absent in the case of Malabo; taking its symbolic center right to the gate of the historic medina, thus recognizing its importance and symbolic value. The scenographic ideals of the City Beautiful movement provided a new façade to the medina, as well as a new interpretation of the inner suq, which existed as the non-western analogy of the modern city centre. Il. 01. Plaza de España in Larache (North Morocco), 1923. 5 Informe de la comisión de Fernando Póo 1860:10

After the Spanish Civil War, and especially after World War II, Spain and its colonies received international influence, in a wider context of a movement for liberation and independence in Africa, the raising critique towards modernism and unexpected urban growth. Changes in the official discourses were evident, showing a turn towards convergence with methods and practices already applied in Western countries. This change was evident in the modern colonial city, as well as in the new management and design procedures. A pioneering case was the North of Morocco, where the Urbanization General Plans promoted by urbanist Pedro Muguruza,6 were applied for the first time in Spain. Modern criteria, such as specialization, functional segregation, systematization, as well as the regulation of real estate market, appeared as a first sample of modern management. From 1950 onwards, new strategies started to be applied, such as mass housing, high-rises and the enforcement of specialization.

These experiences show Spanish colonialism as a key point for the understanding of the construction of African and global modernity, taking advantage of its peripheral condition in order to adapt its generic principles to the local situation. This dialectic between the local and the colonial, center and periphery, between the conscious invention of “The Other”, and the libertarian response to the settlements of the outcast, are still a question to be solved in the historical revision of the 6 Plan General de Ordenación de Tetuán. (1943). Alta comisaría. Servicio de Arquitectura. 1943. Pedro Muguruza. 1 plano + 14 fotografías. PL-4997-4999. Archivo Personal de Pedro Muguruza. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, España.


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modernization process that Africa experienced in the last century.

The housing question The development of urban peripheries in the African context accelerated during the 50s, showing the emergence of colonial economies in the postwar era. Paradoxically, this growth gained momentum as the colonial system approached its dismantlement. The housing question became the major driving force of urban growth whilst provided cohesion to the new urban model.7

Public housing was considered as a tool at disposal of the colonial authorities in order to deal with the difficulties of urban development. The very early years of the colonial period in Africa were full of sanitary emergencies such as epidemics. Behind these casual outbursts lied the main reasons of public urban intervention in the periphery.

Together with the emergence of modern urbanism, the work of Spanish architects shows a special interest in the development of specific typological responses to the new topics posed in housing. In the North of Morocco, José María de la Quadra Salcedo proposed a new rationalization in space management as well as in construction details, even if Spanish building construction sector was still suffering the scarcity of materials such as iron and concrete.

The housing units “Casas bloque” (1942),8 which were designed for municipal workers in Tetouan, offer a good example

7 SIERRA OCHOA, Alfonso. La vivienda marroquí. Apuntes para una teoría. Ceuta: Editorial Cremades, 1960. 8 “La obra de Quadra Salcedo en Tetuán”. Cortijos y rascacielos: casas de campo, arquitectura, decoración, Nº 29, 1945 , pag. 14

of the architecture of the autarchy period, developing interesting experiences of construction technology. These works were prone to adopt the official “Spanish” versions of rationalism, in deep contrast to the avant-gardism solutions that had been already developed in the rest of Europe.

From 1950 onwards, there is a deep change in Spain, which resulted to new international agreements and the introduction of new materials and technologies, as well as a greater influence coming from architectural theory debates taking place in the Western countries. At the same time, mass housing becomes a priority: especially in North Morocco, where the capital city, Tetouan, received special attention from the authorities with the construction of more than 1500 housing units.

Among them, there are some remarkable projects, such as the 400 dwellings for low income Muslim population in the “García Valiño” neighborhood unit (1953), designed by José María Bustinduy, and the Bloques de Aviación (1956), consisting in 72 housing dwellings for Army officers designed by Bustinduy and Cruz Muller.9

There is a remarkable case in the 400 housing units in the so-called “Mulay Hassan” neighborhood, designed by Alfonso de Sierra Ochoa (1953), who investigated the modernization of Moroccan traditional housing and reported the dehumanization which was inherent in the so called rational architecture. At Mulay Hassan, De Sierra recognized the influence of ATBAT-

9 Archivador 5, Archivo Personal de Alfonso De Sierra Ochoa. Biblioteca Vicente Aleixandre del Instituto Cervantes de Tetuán. Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de España.


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Afrique’s Carrières centrales in Casablanca (1952), and at the same time criticized its overall scheme in favor of a new model.

Il. 02. General view of “Mulay Hassan” neighborhood, Tetouan (North Morocco), 1953.

In Equatorial Guinea different questions are posed, since projects reflect a further degree of technological adaptation, as well as the outcome of the convergence of Spanish architecture to the international panorama. The question of architectural language, which in Spain was tightly linked to the aesthetics of the Regime, evolved in order to adopt new solutions and alternative models for mass housing.

In 1965, the architect Ramón Estalella defined a settlement of 759 houses that could grow unlimitedly on a grid basis pattern to house the growing Cameroon and Nigerian population that were settled in the Campo Yaoundé area, now Los Angeles neighborhood, According to three housing typologies for one-parent families and singles users, the typologies designed are based on the assumption of the new identity formulated by the colonial discourses for all Africans. However, the project provides answers to selected cultural expressions that e.g. modify the use of open to sky spaces. Cross ventilation through interior patios becomes a basic architectural resource.

Il.3. General view of “Campo Yaoundé” neighborhood, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), 1965.

Within the context of the independence of the African nations in the third quarter of the XXth century, and along with the fluctuations of the discourse of architectural modernism, Spanish experience still showed particularities, mostly regarding to the diversity of

geographical contexts that were still about to be confronted.

The best example of these modern urban and architectural practices lies in El Aaiun, where Ramón Estalella, together with Juan Pedro Capote and Serrano Suñer, designed a new town for 3000 inhabitants (1964), as a part of a larger strategy of territorial transformation trying to foster Spanish presence and control over the Western Sahara. Its initial conception, as well as the particularities of its powerful geometry, tried to adapt the local ways of life, lying between the nomad and tribal culture and urban society as its final destination.

Il.4. Street view of the “Viviendas para nativos”,

El Aaiun (Western Sahara), 1964.

Three different housing typologies were developed in this initial design, but the most interesting proposal is a fourth typology, called “Viviendas para nativos”, or houses for the natives. The housing units following this scheme are segregated from the rest of the city, following a completely different street pattern not relating to the grid that was implemented in the rest of the project.

Il.5. General view of the “Viviendas para nativos”, El Aaiun (Western Sahara), 1964.

The differentiation of housing typologies between the settlers and the colonized clearly suggests a process of racial segregation, which was originally explained as a paternalistic effort to consider local traditions of domestic life and nomadic settlement. The final intention was to settle down this population, in an effort that recalls the Cité du Soleil (Avignon, 1961), by Candilis, Josic and Woods because of its


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nexus to the particular question of urban marginality.

Each housing unit in El Aaiun had a circular or hexagonal shape, comprising 12 houses each, with a common inner patio and a segregation of spaces regarding their public or private use. Each housing unit was provided of a narrow alley connecting the exterior with the inner patio, thus with different access to each dwelling from their backyards.10

House sizes were minimum (35 sq.m.), and each had three different rooms; plus a backyard and access to the roof. The inner court replied the modes of organization of the nomadic population, and was intended to provide shelter during the night to cattle, mostly camels and goats, which were the economic basis of these families.

10 Viviendas en África, Ed. Instituto Nacional de la Vivienda, 1966. “Viviendas de nativos en El Aaiún”, in Cuadernos de arquitectura, nº 70, 1967, pp. 40-41.

Conclusions Housing in Spanish colonial capitals provides a new and deeper understanding of architectural modernism. It leads to a non-canonical dimension of modernity, which is the key to understand the complex ongoing processes of cultural hibridation taking place in the urban peripheries of both Africa and Europe.

The question of housing constitutes a transversal approach that frequently challenges the official colonial discourse, as well as the character of modernity, either from the flooding process of urban growth as well as local resistance to the imposition of alien housing models. The Spanish case shows its full interest considering the diversity of geocultural contexts it had to deal with, as well as for its ability of adaptation to different circumstances. This peripheral experience poses new questions to the historic evaluation of that period, as well as its understanding as a contemporary cultural heritage.

IllustrationsThis was Spanish revolution. Modern urban defiance in Africa:

Morocco, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea

Il.1. Plaza de España in Larache (North Morocco), 1923.

This was Spanish revolution. Modern urban defiance in Africa:


Il.2. General view of “Mulay Hassan” neighborhood,

Tetouan (North Morocco), 1953.



Il.3. General view of “Campo Yaoundé” neighborhood, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), 1965.



Il.4. Street view of the “Viviendas para nativos”, El Aaiun (Western Sahara), 1964.



Il.5. General view of the “Viviendas para nativos”, El Aaiun (Western Sahara), 1964.



This was Spanish Revolution. Modern urban defiance in Africa: Morocco, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea

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