September | 2024 | Transnational Architecture Group

Who are Godwin and Hopwood?

Exploring Tropical Architecture in the Age of the Climate Crisis by Ben Tosland with a foreward by Ola Uduku

The first comprehensive monograph about the tropical architecture of Godwin and Hopwood in Nigeria.

After studying at the Architectural Association in London, John Godwin and Gillian Hopwood moved to Nigeria, where they significantly shaped the country’s architectural landscape for more than sixty years.

When Nigeria became independent in 1960 following British dominance since the 19^th century, the couple worked to create architecture that was site-specific, modern, and adapted to the climate relevant to Nigeria’s aspirational political and economic policies.

In this richly illustrated monograph, organised by typology, Ben Tosland examines Godwin and Hopwood’s form of tropical modernism and illuminates its contemporary meanings and concluding with its relevance in times of the climate crisis.We are delighted to welcome Carey Godwin alongside the author Ben Tosland and contributor Ola Uduku to the AA Bookshop to celebrate the launch of this new publication. The event will be introduced by Head of AA Archives Edward Bottoms.

The book will be sold at the very special price of £50 (RRP £63)

Photograph by James Barnor, on display at the SCCA in Tamale

I’ve always liked this building on John Pagan Road in Accra – but couldn’t find anything on its history…. Until I saw the @james_barnor_festival @james_barnor_archives exhibition at @sccatamale in Tamale, Ghana. There was a great photo of Kwame Nkrumah driving in his distinctive car with the building in the background displaying the signage “C. Sabih & Sons”. It’s a start. Who was Sabih? Where they part of the Indian trading community in Accra perhaps? It’s a very distinctive building with a prominent brise soleil carefully directed towards the angle of the sun and modified to wrap around the corner plot. Whoever designed it knew the principles of ‘tropical modernism’ and also had some skill in supervising complex concrete construction.