Architects Brainstorm on Preserving Heritage

Cameroonian architects have been challenged to emulate their French counterparts in rehabilitating monuments and emblematic buildings with a quest to preserve architectural originality. French Architect, Jean-Luc Laurent made the call on Wednesday July 25 during a conference pitting French and Cameroonian architects at the special architecture school (ESSACA). The conference that was moderated by philosopher Prof Guillaume Bwele, focused on examining the preservation of French and Cameroonian architectural heritage.

In his presentation, Jean- Luc Laurent traced the history of French policy on architectural patrimony and heritage back to the age of monarchs through the gothic, aristocratic, Napoleonic eras. Just around the start of the First World War, he explained, architects were allowed to participate in the restoration of public buildings. "45,000 historic monuments were identified and the need to preserve the environment was made a requirement to preservation," He contrasted his view with an analysis of the preservation of some historic buildings in Cameroon to establish that Cameroonian architects had a lot of homework to do. Traditional palaces, colonial buildings, presidential palaces, he said, need the attention of architects.

Hitting back, the President of the National Order of Architects of Cameroon (ONAC), Anne Marie Medou, blamed the difficulty to preserve patrimonies on funds and the forest humid zones. She divided Cameroon's architectural evolution since 1850 into vernacular, colonial and urban-effect architecture eras.

The conference also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Special School of Architecture (ESSACA) and the National Advanced School of Public Works (NASPW). Jean Jacques Kotto and George Elambo Nkeng, respectively Directors of ESSACA and NASPW, saw it as a timely public-private partnership enabling both schools to follow the Bachelors-Masters-Doctorate (BMD) system and exchange lecturers and students, among others.