Who Are Godwin and Hopwood? Exploring Tropical Architecture in the Age of Climate Crisis
This monograph on the work of British architects John Godwin and Gillian Hopwood, who were active in Lagos from 1954 onwards, subverts many of the design conventions of books on architecture. It starts with the fairly small format and the intriguing title, which appears in a large serif typeface on the green hardcover, and continues inside with elaborate image and text layouts that are at times reminiscent of newspaper pages. Although the chapter structure follows a typology of residential, commercial and office buildings, the images make it instantly clear that the book deals not only with the finished buildings but also the working processes and contexts. This reflects how Godwin and Hopwood worked, closely engaged with the climatic and local conditions in newly independent, post-colonial Nigeria and providing extensive local training. The text printed in green accompanied by greyscale images and captions in black type, combined with the brown endpaper, create a soft palette that is a break from the stark contrasts of many architecture books. Certain images that are less informative in greyscale are reproduced in four colours in the 16-page image sections, which use a smaller-format coated paper. The design is wholly in keeping with the subject, and thus the book does not create a sense of awe but rather entices the holder to read and explore. It represents a strong trend among this year’s submissions not to reduce architecture to mere aesthetics, but to consider it within the context of social issues, political crises or environmental challenges.
