Starting from scratch - Building the Meridien Bank in Lusaka

Abstract

In his recent book, Uncommon Ground: Architecture, Technology and Topography, David Leatherbarrow questions the "valency of architecture" in the West on the grounds of its method of construction. Specifically, he asks how an original and creative work of architecture can be conceived and built using industrialised, premade materials and elements. He claims that the use of "ready-made solutions largely transforms design invention into choice, converting creativity into selection. " In industrialised countries, architects have a long history of leaving thinking about building materials and systems to others and this may be part of the reason we have reached a "crisis" in contemporary architectural practice. The design and construction of the Meridien Bank in Lusaka (1992-1994) stands in stark contrast to this mode of architectural design and building. When the architect Walter Dobkins asked the Quantity Surveyor what materials there were to build the bank the reply was that "there were none." As a result Walter sourced raw materials which could be hand tooled on site using local "cottage industry" skills and techniques from the squatter settlements. While this was in part an attempt to produce a building suited to and representative of its region it is also the manifestation of a very different way of thinking about building technology.