Architecture Spotlight: Guinea-Bissau (Bissau Cathedral, Armando Cabral)
Guinea-Bissau is a very interesting region. In a sense it has always been right smack in the middle of global interests; its resources and infrastructure sought after by foreign and domestic parties while its people bear the burden of unimaginable poverty. This seemingly endless tug of war is in part due to Guinea-Bissau’s ideal position right at the epicenter between the Northern and Southern Atlantic oceans, which places it in a prime position for trade routes to the Americas and Europe. This fact in modern times unfortunately makes this region an ideal hub for drug trafficking, and in the past a focal point of the transatlantic slave trade. The visual impact of Portuguese colonial rule was mostly evident in the country's urban centers, and we’ll take a look at one structure from this era, the Bissau Cathedral. We’ll also give an honorary salute to Guinea-Bissauan/Portuguese shoe designer, Armando Cabral. Let’s get to it.
Bissau Cathedral
The Bissau Cathedral was one of the projects scoped out by the Portuguese Colonial Planning Office, and its development spanned the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The lead architect for the project was originally Vasco Regaleira (he specialized in religious architecture). Regaleira would eventually be replaced by Paulo Cunha, another architect that designed houses for the colonial workers, and finally the design mandate fell to João Simões, who in modern times is commonly cited as the designer for the cathedral. Today the church is regarded as the center of Roman Catholicism in Guinea-Bissau.
The architectural style for the cathedral is considered to be Neo-Romanesque; incorporating simplified elements of design from the era of Romanticism.
Note: Romanticism was an artistic/intellectual movement that started in France and England during the 19th Century. The core tenets of Romanticism included free thought, unconventional-ism, unpredictability and a focus on imagination and emotion, in a sense a reaction against the rational, classical ideals of the 18th Century in Europe. In architectural terms, this meant evoking past styles considered to be exotic and implementing them in foreign settings. An example of this would be Egyptian inspired homes, which were very popular in England during the 19th Century.
Today the cathedral is used as an operational lighthouse that helps guide ships on the Geba River to the Port of Bissau.
Armando Cabral
Armando Cabral is an internationally acclaimed model turned luxury men’s shoe designer and retailer. A product of the Wilhelmina Modeling Agency, Armando was born in Guinea-Bissau and raised in Portugal. He has walked the runway for major fashion brands: from Ozwald Boateng to Calvin Klein, and has been in a vast collection of magazines. Regarding his design profile, his concept for his shoe line regards making shoes that combine the traditional with the modern, where casual and classic meet in shoe designs that also artfully utilize high end materials. Sounds like shoes a guy like myself could use as I walk all over cities like New York, Accra and London; I will definitely be looking to own a pair. What’s not to like about Armando Cabral? He’s a successful model, he’s doing his countrymen in Portugal and Guinea-Bissau proud, and he designed his own shoe line. Plus he’s a fan of Koffi Olomide’s music. He has my salute. Be sure to check out Armando’s website at www.armando-cabral.com and enjoy the below video of him sharing his craft.
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