Constructing society: contingency and imperfection in modernist civic architecture in the Global South and East

This paper reflects on the legacy of post-war civic buildings designed by four modernist architects working in the 20th C Global South and East: the Kagawa Prefectural Government Office by Kenzo Tange (1958), the Sri Lankan Parliament Building by Geoffrey Bawa (1982), a series of civic buildings by Roelof Uytenbogaardt in South Africa, and the National Assembly Building in Dhaka by Louis I. Kahn, with support from Muzharul Islam (1983). Revisiting and juxtaposing these examples of modern architecture within rapidly changing political contexts and competing visions of civic reform, reveals the heroic efforts and positive changes that can be realised, as well as the contingency and imperfection of modern architecture. The paper concludes by recognising the socially-transformative potential of modernist civic architecture, while at the same time acknowledging its limited capacity to fully resolve societal problems.