How do we read the practice of Israeli architects in Africa during the golden age of Israel–Africa relations? Manuel Herz describes the architecture in Africa within approximately the same time frame as “the architecture of independence,” while Łukasz Stanek sets it within the context of Cold War politics.1 Closer to the subject, Haim Yacobi describes the practice of Israeli architects in postindependence Africa as an architecture of foreign policy.2 While acknowledging these earlier perspectives, in Architecture and Development, Ayala Levin calls us to consider this architecture within the discourse of development. By doing this, she frames both “an architectural history of development aid and a development aid history of architecture” (4).
In her introduction, Levin is quick to indicate her desire to unveil the often-overlooked agency of the African elites in the development of their countries, a perspective that she illuminates throughout the book. While debunking the...