Phaséur
Anli Lukunku
The title refers to a familiar Congolese description of the homeless and stateless as ‘Phaseur’, whose sleep phases are restless and interrupted, and who have no fixed social or family reference points. Figuratively speaking, Kinshasa’s contemporary architecture can be described as “phaseur”, as it has no clear reference point in its own history. In contrast, current architectural influences can be seen as remnants of the colonial era and styles imported from building societies in other countries. With this in mind, the project is inspired by the aesthetic principles of the pre-colonial architecture of the Teke people.
Between 1650 and 1880, the Teke people constructed buildings from wood and straw in the region of present-day Kinshasa. The basic form was the rectangle as the base surface and the cylinder as the superstructure.1 At the end of the 19th century, this mode of construction, along with all societal structures, was destroyed by Belgian colonisation. The existing round houses were used by the colonial authorities to house field workers. For the upper classes, they built angular houses made of wood and clay. The foundation stone for the colonial hierarchical division of the city of Kinshasa was thus laid.2 To this day, the angular shape is the dominant architectural form in Kinshasa and is perceived as a modern construction and aesthetic, while the round shape is interpreted as retrograde.
The ‘Phaseur’ project projects the pre-colonial semi-circular architectural form, the combination of rectangle and cylinder, into the future. In an analogical study of the form, the project explores futuristic conceptions. Imaginary virtual architectural models are then created from these two geometric figures, challenging the colonial heritage of the hierarchy of forms. Inspired by Bodys Isek Kingelez’s fantasy city models, an imaginary city is created in virtual space, combining the pre-colonial past with the future vision of utopian architecture.
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1. Roger Mumbere Tshaka, « L’architecture Congolaise, Mythe ou réalité ? », 2014, Page 7
2. Voir Lumenganeso Kiobe, « Kinshasa Genèse et sites historiques », 1995
Anli Lukunku was born in 1997 in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He obtained his master’s degree in interior architecture in 2022. As an artist, he focuses on architecture, urbanism and spatial planning as a construction of identity. He studies the design of public spaces and their social narratives, and develops new visual narratives to contribute to a postcolonial future. In a transdisciplinary approach, he combines digital spatial planning, fantastical and utopian architectural models and urban scenography.
His themes focus on Africa’s past and present, between tradition and European influence, and on the contemporary consequences of colonisation, proselytism and development aid. His interest in intercultural tensions in contemporary post-colonial societies combines the pre-colonial aesthetics of the kingdoms of Cuba and Pende with futuristic design.
His work has been presented as part of Triangles Tournoyant: En route vers une école de design by Savvy-Contemporary (2019), the Dizainer Master Class (2023) and at the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa (2020). As a scenographer, he has worked at the Musée national de Kinshasa (2021), the Maboke theatre (2021) and on the digital platform New Viewings at Galerie Barbara Thumm (2022). He is currently working as a project manager for art workshops for disadvantaged children and young people in Kinshasa in the Cultural Center Mokili na Poche.