Main | Mysite

The Overseas Building Notes and a group of trained ex-slaves returnees from Brazil, known as the Agudas, define British Colonial and Brazilian Baroque styles in Historical Lagos. The structure of knowledge transfer and use of Labor varies distinctly in executing both styles as they co-exist independently during the colonial era.

Brazilian Baroque

Cassie-daves-retro-vibes-in-Jaekel-house

British Colonial

The Overseas Building Notes

The building notes were prepared by

the British Research Establishment (BRE) in the UK to provide information on overseas housing and construction. In 1950, it published a series of notes titled the Colonial Building Notes but with the expansion of the scope of work, the notes became more specific, covering particular subjects in more depths. Building Research Centres and Similar Organisations were established throughout the globe to encourage more intense studies on topics peculiar to a region.

The Public Works Department was the location for the Building Research Center in Lagos. The building notes addressed areas of materials use, daylighting, ventilation, external wall thickness, units of measurement, structures, drainage, flooring, Internal linings, thermal insulation, etc.

The Agudas

Brazilian architecture in Nigeria is a legacy of the thousands of freed slaves known as the Agudas who returned to Nigeria in the 19th century. Trained as carpenters, cabinetmakers, masons, and bricklayers in Brazil, the ex-slaves were notably technically skilled artisans and were known for their exuberant and individualistic style on doorways, brightly painted facades, and chunky concrete columns which are rooted in the baroque styles popular in Brazil in the 18th century.

The Agudas lived together in a settlement called the Brazilian Quarter. The Brazilian Quarter is located on Lagos Island. Most of the family residences of the Agudas were built in the Brazilian Quarter. Many of these residences took the structure of a Sobrado. The Agudas also engaged in building religious structures like mosques and churches. The Agudas trained their children and apprentices (labor) in the way to build these Baroque structures by engaging them in acquiring profound skills and craftsmanship.

1950

Climate with Reference to Tropical and Sub-tropical Conditions

Windows: Design and Function Under Tropical Climate

Timber in Tropical Building

View List

Location of Building Research Centres Across The Globe

1835

The People - Skilled Labor

Brazilian Quarter

Lagos Island

Carvers, Woodworkers, Pavers, etc.

Resources

Archives
1. "Home." Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative. https://gahtc.org/.
2. "Overseas Building Notes." BREbookshop.com. https://www.brebookshop.com/.
Primary Resources
1. Macmillan, Allister. The Red Book of West Africa: Historical and Descriptive, Commercial and Industrial Facts, Figures & Resources. Ibadan, Nigeria: Spectrum Books, 1993.
2. Kennedy, Jean, and Richard Wolford. West African Builder and Architect. Lagos: West African builder and architect, 1968.
3. Building Research Establishment, Watford (UK). Overseas Div. "Building in Hot Climates: A Selection of Overseas Building Notes." CORE, January 1, 1980. https://core.ac.uk/display/40363028.
4. Bandeira Júlio, Lago Pedro Corrêa do, Carvalho José Murilo de, and Jean Baptiste Debret. Debret e o Brasil: Obra Completa, 1816-1831. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Capiva ra, 2013.
5. Cunha, Marianno Carneiro da., and Pierre Verger. Da Senzala Ao Sobrado: Arquitetura Brasileira Na Nigéria e Na República Popular Do Benim = From Slave Quarters to Town Houses: Brazilian Architecture in Nigeria and the People's Republic of Benin. São Paulo: Nobel, 1985.
6. Akinsemoyin, Kunle, Gholly Balogun, and Alan Vaughan-Richards. Building Lagos. Lagos: Prestige Books, 2009.
7. Alonge, Marjorie Moji Dolapo. Afro-Brazilian Architecture in Lagos State: a Case for Conservation. Newcastle upon Tyne: the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1994.
8. Teriba, Adedoyin. Afro-Brazilian Architecture in Southwest Colonial Nigeria (1890s-1940s). Ann Arbor: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2017.
9. "Baroque Architecture in Brazil." HiSoUR, April 22, 2019. https://www.hisour.com/baroque-architecture-in-brazil-33833/.
10. Themetropoleblog. "Reimagining Slavery and Freedom: Afro-Brazilians in Lagos during the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century." The Metropole, April 15, 2019. https://themetropole.blog/2019/04/15/reimagining-slavery-and-freedom-afro-brazilians-in-lagos-during-the-second-half-of-the-nineteenth-century/.
Secondary Resources
1. "Public Works Department (Nigeria)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, December 6, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Works_Department_(Nigeria).
2. Jean-François, Edvige, and Chris Giles. “Historical Architecture Is Vanishing from Lagos.” CNN. Cable News Network, July 19, 2017. https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/19/architecture/nigeria-afro-brazilian-architecture/index.html.