Incomplete residential buildings in Touba, Senegal. Image © Limbo Accra

“Abandoned Buildings Provide the Potential for a Regenerative Future”: In Conversation With Limbo Accra

由专筑网王沛儒，小R编译

非洲许多城市的废弃建筑越来越多，Limbo Accra 是一家空间设计事务所，致力于对这些建筑进行修复、再利用和改造。这个事务所将这些建筑视为一种独特的建筑类型，包括重要的城市地标，从拉各斯废弃的独立宫到阿克拉未完工的机场塔楼，等等。他们认为这些建筑是现代公共空间的重要机遇，也是可以体现其象征性的场所。通过摄影测量等技术，Limbo Accra 一直在为这些建筑创建数字档案，与艺术家和设计师合作，为它们创造新的前景。我们有幸采访了 Limbo Accra 的联合创始人 Dominique Petit-Frère，他谈到了这些建筑的集体特征、Limbo Accra 改造这些建筑的方法，以及在这些建筑的适应性再利用过程中遇到的挑战。

Paul Yakubu：在阿克拉、拉各斯和达喀尔等许多非洲城市，一个突出的趋势是废弃建筑的增加。其中既有小型建筑，也有未完工的房地产和废弃的高层建筑。您认为影响因素是什么，这些城市在这些因素方面有哪些相似之处？

Limbo Accra：我是第一代纽约人，父母分别来自加纳和海地，从我的成长经历来看，我目睹了许多人从全球南部前往北部寻求社会经济机会。这往往会导致投资逐渐回流，包括正在进行的建筑项目。因此，许多项目在开始时并没有获得全额资金，导致项目在数年甚至数十年内都处于停滞状态。通过实践，我们发现无论是在公共部门还是在私营部门，都有几个因素会影响建筑的完工。我们发现了一系列难题，如结构缺陷、土地和家庭纠纷、投机性开发行为、贿赂、预算超支，以及政府重新分配。

There is an increasing character of abandoned buildings in many African cities and Limbo Accra; a spatial design practice, roots itself in the experimentation of their repair, reuse, and transformation. The practice views these buildings as a unique architectural typology that includes key city landmarks, from the abandoned Independence house in Lagos to the incomplete airport tower in Accra, amongst others. They see them as major opportunities for modern public space and as symbolic sites for spatial justice. Through techniques such as photogrammetry, Limbo Accra has been creating a digital archive of these buildings and collaborating with artists and designers to propose new prospects for them. ArchDaily had the opportunity to speak with Dominique Petit-Frère, the co-founder of Limbo Accra, about the collective character of these buildings, Limbo Accra’s approach to their transformation, and navigating challenges in the adaptive reuse of these structures.

Paul Yakubu: A prominent trend in many African cities like Accra, Lagos, and Dakar is the increase in abandoned buildings. These range from small-scale structures to unfinished real estate and derelict high-rises. What do you believe are the influencing factors, and what similarities do these cities share regarding these factors?
Dominique Petit-Frère (Limbo Accra): From my experience growing up as a first-generation New Yorker with parents from both Ghana and Haiti, I've witnessed the flow of many individuals from the Global South traveling to the Global North for socio-economic opportunities. This often leads to gradual investments back home, including ongoing building projects. As a result, many projects start without full funding, leaving them unfinished for years or even decades in a skeletal state. Through our practice, we discovered that in both the public and private sectors, several factors come into play that can affect a building’s completion. We discovered a range of challenges, such as structural flaws, land and family disputes, speculative development practices, bribery, budget overruns, and government reallocations.


La Beach Towers, Accra. Image © Limbo Accra


Uncompleted Sharjah Mall at the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Image © Limbo Accra

PY：你的工作室Limbo Accra 专注于对西非城市未完工建筑项目的修复和改造实验，你们如何应对这些项目？

DP：我们的方法很简单，首先是分享对这些现代废墟的认识。在过去的一年里，我们开发了一个名为“极限档案”的数字档案库，作为非洲未完工和废弃建筑的在线存储库，使用摄影测量作为扫描和保存这些建筑记忆的工具。目前，我们正准备修复和改造阿克拉一座未完工的庄园，将其改造成一个永久性的研究和展览空间。这个空间将存放我们的数字档案，并作为一个“开放实验室”，为当地和国际参与提供一个跨学科中心，探索保护、循环、再利用和共居等主题，同时为可再生的未来做出贡献。

PY：你能通过一个案例来详细说明这一点吗？

DP：最近，我们有幸受到沙迦建筑三年展策展人 Tosin Oshinowo 的邀请，对策展主题“永恒之美 ： 适应性建筑”做出回应。从一开始，我们就想通过“Limbo”的视角来探索沙迦。在这一旅程中，我们发现了很多未完工的建筑项目，其中包括沙迦购物中心，这是酋长国最大的未完工建筑。在这一年中的很多时间，我们与 Anne-Lise Agossa 和 Rym Beydoun 一起，冒险进入其核心区域，重新构想其内部空间。通过在现有的结构和新添加的结构周围编织多层织物，我们创建出了可供人们居住和互动的私密空间。精致的织物与原始、不朽的结构相映成趣，为这里的空间带来了独特的对比和美感。

PY: How does your practice, Limbo Accra, which roots itself on the experimentation of repair and transformation of unfinished building projects in West African cities, respond to this?
DP: Our approach simply begins with sharing awareness of these modern ruins. Over the past year, we have developed a digital archive titled "The Liminal Archive" which serves as an online repository of unfinished and abandoned architecture across Africa, using photogrammetry as a tool to scan and preserve the memory of these buildings. Currently, we are preparing to repair and retrofit an unfinished estate in Accra, where we have been operating for the past two years, into a permanent research and exhibition space. This space will house our digital archive and serve as an "open lab" providing an interdisciplinary hub for both local and international engagement to explore themes of preservation, circularity, reuse, and cohabitation, all whilst contributing to a regenerative future.

PY: Could you elaborate on this through an abandoned structure you've interrogated this way and the responses that emerged from it?
DP: Recently, we had the honor of being invited by Tosin Oshinowo, curator of the Sharjah Architecture Triennale, to respond to the curatorial theme, “The Beauty of Impermanence: The Architecture of Adaptability.” From the onset, we wanted to explore Sharjah through the lens of Limbo. This journey led us to uncover a series of unfinished building projects, including the Sharjah Mall, the largest incomplete structure in the Emirate. At multiple moments throughout the year, together with Anne-Lise Agossa and Rym Beydoun, we ventured into its core and reimagined its interior space. By weaving multiple layers of fabric around existing and newly added structural elements, we created intimate pockets of space where people could inhabit and interact. This juxtaposition of delicate fabrics against the raw, monumental structure brought a unique contrast and sense of beauty to the site.


Sharjah Mall,  Digital Archive - The Liminal Archive. Image © Limbo Accra


Super Limbo by Limbo Accra, at the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Image © Limbo Accra

PY：可以理解的是，政治和经济因素是造成这些破旧建筑的主要原因，而不是建筑因素。设计师或建筑师该如何认识这些影响因素，帮助修复和改造这些建筑？

DP：在某种程度上，承认并了解当今非洲人的建筑实践非常重要。房屋和建筑往往需要数年甚至数十年才能完成。我们如何创造机会和解决方案来支持这种循序渐进的建设方式？是否有可能开发一些系统，使建筑成本随着时间的推移而降低？我们能否根据当地社区的需要，设计出适合多年来分阶段建造建筑的解决方案？

PY：由于缺乏潜在的用途，这些建筑中大部分都处于废弃状态。就比如说，虽然拉各斯需要更多的社会住房，但考虑到废弃的政府大楼以前的地位和原有的空间特征，要重新利用这些大楼来满足社会需求是具有挑战性的。您认为这些建筑的最好的用途是什么？如果这些用途涉及到不同的类型，您将如何使其与建筑的现有特征相协调?

DP：根据经验，我们了解到这里的资源非常稀缺，但一切皆有可能。适应这个概念相对较新，尤其是在非洲大陆的现代背景中。我们的主要目标是提高人们的认识，并将这些废弃的建筑展示为美丽、令人向往和充满潜力的场所，这样可以解决社区的一些问题。通过研究、记录、归档，对这一现象的规模及其可能性进行信息/数据收集，我们的目的是与建筑师、城市学家、普通公众以及那些有权力和财力的人分享这些信息，以寻求投资来修复这些废弃建筑，解决城市的主要问题，如缺乏绿地、公共公园、创新中心、医院、学校等。

PY: It's understandable that political and economic factors, rather than architectural ones, are the primary causes of these dilapidated structures. How could a designer or architect examine these influences to aid in the repair and transformation of these structures?
DP: To some extent, it's important to acknowledge and understand what building practices are being conducted by Africans today. Houses and buildings often take years, even decades, to complete. How can we create opportunities and solutions to support this gradual approach to building? Is it possible to develop systems that allow for lower-cost construction over time? Can we design solutions that accommodate buildings being constructed in stages over many years, tailored to the needs of local communities?

PY: Many of these buildings remain derelict due to their lack of potential use. For instance, while Lagos needs more social housing, it's challenging to repurpose abandoned governmental buildings in the city for this need, given their former status and original spatial character. What do you believe are the optimal use-case opportunities for these buildings? If these uses involve a different typology, how would you reconcile that with the building's existing characteristics?
DP: Through our experience, we've learned that there's an abundance of scarcity and that anything is possible. The concept of adaptation is relatively new, especially in the modern context of the African continent. Our main goal is to raise awareness and present these sites as beautiful, desirable, and full of potential to address critical issues in our communities. By researching, documenting, archiving, and collecting information/data on the scale of this phenomenon and its possibilities, our goal is to share this knowledge with architects, urbanists, the general public, and those in positions of power and financial resources to invest in the rehabilitation of these sites to address key issues such as; lack of green spaces, public parks, innovation hubs, hospitals, schools, etc.


Super Limbo by Limbo Accra, at the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Image © Limbo Accra

PY： 最后，您在 2023 年沙迦建筑三年展上的项目“Super Limbo”涉及在新的环境下探索和干预废弃建筑。您在西非的研究对这一作品有何影响，这一装置又能为更广泛的适应性再利用计划提供哪些启示？

DP： 正如我之前提到的，我们认为这是一种概念验证。当建筑师、设计师、机构、开发商和公共机构聚集在一起时，我们就能将这些场地的使用转变为更有意义的事情。它开启了一个新的对话，让我们可以讨论和思考许多其他话题，也就是前面提到的问题。

PY: Lastly, your project "Super Limbo" for the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennale involved exploring and intervening in abandoned buildings in a new context. How did your research from West Africa influence this work, and what insights can this installation provide for broader adaptive reuse initiatives?
DP: As previously mentioned, we believe that it stands as a proof of concept. When architects, designers, institutions, developers, and public agents come together, we can transform the use of these sites into something more meaningful. It opens up a new conversation that allows us to discuss and reflect on so many other topics, namely the previous questions.


NSITF building, Lagos, Digital Archive - The Liminal Archive. Image © Limbo Accra


Super Limbo by Limbo Accra, at the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Image © Danko Stjepanovic. Image Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial


Uncompleted Sharjah Mall at the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Image © Limbo Accra


La Beach Towers, Accra, Digital Archive - The Liminal Archive. Image © Limbo Accra