‘Utilitarian’ Architecture over ‘Streamlined Buildings’: Decolonisation, Nation-Building and Development Aid at the University of Nigeria (1955–1967)

Recent scholarship on twentieth century West African architecture examines the intersections of decolonisation, nation formation, and development aid. While this shift highlights a transnational body of architects, the role of indigenous actors and building professionals remain under-researched. Using the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) as a case study, this paper analyses how architecture reflects Nigeria’s transition from a colonial entity to an independent state. It employs a transnational and multi-institutional archival research approach. Government, academic and architectural archives in Nigeria, the UK and the USA were examined. Non-institutional sources like newspapers and biographical accounts of students and building professionals were also analysed. The research reveals that the Eastern Nigerian political class envisioned UNN’s architecture as a nationalist and utilitarian alternative to the elitist and expensive colonial University College Ibadan (1948). The university was designed in three stages by the British firm James Cubitt & Partners; Nigerian contractors like Eastern General Contractors; and American architects through technical assistance. The stages illustrate how the architecture of universities and state projects in early independence Nigeria were impacted by decolonisation, nation-building and development aid. Furthermore, the research introduces local figures—Nigerian political elites and contractors—who are often overlooked in commonly used architectural records.