The architect of the Bolgatanga Regional Library. I kind of liked the building when I first saw it (inside)... it is in serious decrpitude today, unfortunately, but still worth visiting.
J. Max Bond Jr., Influential African-American Architect, Dies at 73 - Obituary from February 2009, New York Times.
J. Max Bond Jr., Influential African-American Architect, Dies at 73 - Obituary from February 2009, New York Times.
J. Max Bond Jr., long the most influential African-American architect in New York and one of a few black architects of national prominence, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 73 and lived in Manhattan.
His early career took him to France, where he worked with André Wogenscky; to New York, where he was at Gruzen & Partners and Pedersen & Tilney; and to Ghana, where he worked for the government from 1964 to 1967. There, in the northern part of the country, he designed the Bolgatanga Regional Library, four buildings under the broad shade of a tabletop-like roof intended, along with natural ventilation, to eliminate the need for air-conditioning.
I certainly didn't know about this architect - never too late to learn though - but I do share your view of the Bolga Library. I always thought the design was very interesting, though it was quite dark inside, especially in the later afternoon when a few more lights would have been nice, but probably couldn't be afforded by the ever underfunded Ghana Library Board. I do have to admit that I haven't been there in more than ten years though, but even in the 1980s and 1990s it was rather sad to see what shape it was in.
Having said this about Bolga, it was way, way, way better than the montrosity that was started in Tamale in the 1970s. That was just a huge concrete dump, which was totally uninspiring - obviously in my opinion!