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This postcard was produced by the Ghana Information Services in the immediate post-independence, printed in the UK. It shows busy passerby in front of the UTC and GTMT buildings in Accra, two examples of modernist architecture. Under Nkrumah’s vision, architecture was a primary tool of nation-building, a sure resource to diffuse a sense of pride for modernity and to unify a multitude of peoples under an impartial architectural language. Order, vibrancy, and industriousness emerge from the citizens making use of the built environment. The warm, earthy tones of the print speak simultaneously of the aging paper they lay on and the transformation of photography and its chemicals.
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This postcard issued by Ghana Tourist Corporation and printed in Italy shows the once-famous hotel established by Nkrumah and managed by the State Hotel Corporation in the satellite city of Tema. The traits of the Meridian Hotel are synonymous with the zeitgeist of Accra’s 1960s architecture. The curated interiors and elegant atmosphere made it a glamorous meeting point for a night out. A popular Ghanaian band Wulomei, sang about this hotel and all the fun that could be had there. This defunct hotel is currently in a state of decay and has been marked for demolition stripped of all its finishes, to the point it looks as if it was still under construction. By revealing the skeleton, there is a visual time-travel to its construction state before completion in the 1950s. A baobab tree which is believed to be a local deity, is still existing on site even after the building’s death and was probably existing before construction begun in the 50s.
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This postcard was produced by the Ghana Information Services in the immediate post-independence, printed in the UK. It shows busy passerby in front of the UTC and GTMT buildings in Accra, two examples of modernist architecture. Under Nkrumah’s vision, architecture was a primary tool of nation-building, a sure resource to diffuse a sense of pride for modernity and to unify a multitude of peoples under an impartial architectural language. Order, vibrancy, and industriousness emerge from the citizens making use of the built environment. The warm, earthy tones of the print speak simultaneously of the aging paper they lay on and the transformation of photography and its chemicals.
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This postcard issued by Ghana Tourist Corporation and printed in Italy shows the once-famous hotel established by Nkrumah and managed by the State Hotel Corporation in the satellite city of Tema. The traits of the Meridian Hotel are synonymous with the zeitgeist of Accra’s 1960s architecture. The curated interiors and elegant atmosphere made it a glamorous meeting point for a night out. A popular Ghanaian band Wulomei, sang about this hotel and all the fun that could be had there. This defunct hotel is currently in a state of decay and has been marked for demolition stripped of all its finishes, to the point it looks as if it was still under construction. By revealing the skeleton, there is a visual time-travel to its construction state before completion in the 1950s. A baobab tree which is believed to be a local deity, is still existing on site even after the building’s death and was probably existing before construction begun in the 50s.
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