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Limete Tower
The Limete Tower (also known as ; "Interchange Tower" or ; "Tower of the National Heroes of Congo") is a tower located in the commune of Limete in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. History President Mobutu Sese Seko decided to rename the Boulevard Léopold II, a major road connecting N'djili Airport to the city centre, to Boulevard Lumumba in 1966, a year after taking over power. He also wanted to erect a monument to Patrice Lumumba at the cross-road to Limete from the boulevard. The foundation stone for the tower was laid by Julius Nyerere, then the president of Tanzania, on 24 November 1967, while construction began in 1969. The design for the tower was by French-Tunisian architect Olivier-Clément Cacoub and construction to be done by a Yugoslav company. The top of the tower was supposed to be a copper spire with the tower comprising four cylindrical columns of reinforced concrete. Construction stopped by 1974 after the building reached 12 f ...
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Limete
Limete is one of the 24 communes that are the administrative divisions of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Location Limete is located south of the Pool Malebo between the mouths of the Funa and Ndjili rivers. The eastern boundary is the Ndjili going south down to Boulevard Lumumba (). The western boundary from the north follows the Funa, Boulevard Lumumba, and Avenue de L'Université down to Avenue Kikwit. From there the southern boundary rejoins Boulevard Lumumba to the east via Avenue Sefu and the Limete Tower interchange. Limete's neighboring communes going clockwise from the east are: Masina, Matete, Lemba, Ngaba, Kalamu, and Barumbu. Government The administration of Limete is led by an unelected government appointed burgomaster (). As of 2023 the burgomaster is Nathalie Alamba. The reform of having burgomasters elected by communal councils awaits the inaugural election of these councils. Electoral district With ...
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Olivier-Clément Cacoub
Olivier-Clément Cacoub, (born April 14, 1920, in Tunis, and died April 27, 2008, in Paris), was a French architect of Tunisian-Jewish origin, known for working in the International Style and Brutalism. Career He studied at the Lycée de Tunis, the National School of Fine Arts of Tunis, the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon (atelier Bourdeix), at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris (atelier Pontremoli- Leconte), and at the Institute of Urban Planning at the University of Paris. He began his career in Tunisia, as a consulting architect to the Tunisian Republic under President Habib Bourguiba. He continued practicing in France, Russia, and across Africa. Awards He was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1953, and held the title of chief architect of civil buildings and national palaces for the French Republic ('' :fr:Architecte des bâtiments civils et palais nationaux)''. He was honored with the Commander of the Legion of Honor and the ...
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Brutalist Architecture In Africa
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and Structural engineering, structural elements over decorative design. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochrome colour palette; other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured. Descended from Modernism, brutalism is said to be a reaction against the nostalgia of architecture in the 1940s. Derived from the Swedish phrase ''nybrutalism'', the term "new brutalism" was first used by British architects Alison and Peter Smithson for their pioneering approach to design. The style was further popularised in a 1955 essay by architectural critic Reyner Banham, who also associated the movement with the Fre ...
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Towers In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifically distinguished from buildings in that they are built not to be habitable but to serve other functions using the height of the tower. For example, the height of a clock tower improves the visibility of the clock, and the height of a tower in a fortified building such as a castle increases the visibility of the surroundings for defensive purposes. Towers may also be built for observation, leisure, or telecommunication purposes. A tower can stand alone or be supported by adjacent buildings, or it may be a feature on top of a larger structure or building. Etymology Old English ''torr'' is from Latin ''turris'' via Old French ''tor''. The Latin term together with Greek τύρσις was loaned from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, ...
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Mont Amba District
Mont Amba is an area of the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, comprising five of the city-province's twenty-four administrative divisions—the communes of Kisenso, Lemba, Limete, Matete and Ngaba. It is one of the four so-called districts of Kinshasa. These were the administrative divisions of Kinshasa during much of the Mobutu years (1965-1997) and around which a number of government systems and services are still organized. For instance, Mont Amba makes up an eleven-member National Assembly constituency designated as Kinshasa III. However, these districts are not part of Congo's territorial organization. Mont Amba takes its name from the hill in its extreme southwest on which the main campus of the University of Kinshasa The University of Kinshasa (), colloquially known by its acronym UNIKIN, is a public university located in Kinshasa's Lemba, Kinshasa, Lemba commune within the western region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the c ...
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Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the context of the Second Congo War. He founded the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) in 2002 and was allowed to remain in power after the 2003 Pretoria Accord ended the war as the president of the country's new Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, transitional government. He was elected as president in 2006 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2006 and re-elected in 2011 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2011 for a second term. Since stepping down after the 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2018 election, Kabila, as a former president, serves as a senator for life.Bujakera, Stanis (15 Marc ...
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White Elephant
A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, scheme, business venture, facility, etc. considered expensive but without equivalent utility or value relative to its capital (acquisition) and/or operational (maintenance) costs. Historical background The term derives from the sacred white elephants kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand (Siam), Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded—and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma—as a sign that the monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity. The opulence expected of anyone who owned a beast of such stature was great. Monarchs often exemplified their possession of white elephants in their formal titles (e.g., Hsinbyushin, ...
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Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, after which he led its successor state, Tanzania, as president from 1964 to 1985. He was a founding member and chair of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party and of its successor, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, from 1954 to 1990. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and African socialism, African socialist, he promoted a political philosophy known as Ujamaa. Born in Butiama, Mara Region, Mara, then in the British colony of Tanganyika, Nyerere was the son of a Zanaki people, Zanaki chief. After completing his schooling, he studied at Makerere College in Uganda and then Edinburgh University in Scotland. In 1952 he returned to Tanganyika, married, and worked as a school teacher. In 1954, he helpe ...
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Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-growing Megacity, megacities, with an estimated population of 17 million in 2024. It is the List of cities and towns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most densely populated city in the DRC, the List of cities in Africa by population, most populous city and List of urban areas in Africa by population, third-largest metropolitan area in Africa, and the world's List of largest cities, twenty-second most populous city and List of national capitals by population, fourth-most populous capital city. It is the leading Economy, economic, Politics, political, and cultural center of the DRC, housing several industries including manufacturing, telecommunications, List of banks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, banking, and entertainment. The ...
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Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba ( ; born Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa; 2 July 192517 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June until September 1960, following the May 1960 election. He was the leader of the Congolese National Movement (MNC) from 1958 until his assassination in 1961. Ideologically an African nationalist and pan-Africanist, he played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic. Shortly after Congolese independence in June 1960, a mutiny broke out in the army, marking the beginning of the Congo Crisis. After a coup, Lumumba attempted to escape to Stanleyville to join his supporters who had established a new anti- Mobutu state called the Free Republic of the Congo. Lumumba was captured en route by state authorities under Joseph-Désiré Mobutu (Sese Seko), s ...
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N'djili Airport
N'djili Airport ( ), also known as N'Djili International Airport and Kinshasa International Airport (French language, French ''Aéroport international de N'Djili'' or ''Aéroport international de Kinshasa''), serves the city of Kinshasa and is the largest of the five international airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is named after the nearby Ndjili River. History The airport was inaugurated in 1959, mainly used as a secondary hub for SABENA until 1960 when the Democratic Republic of the Congo became independent, then becoming a major hub for Air Congo. In 1998 N'Djili airport was the site of Operation Kitona, one of the decisive battles of the Second Congo War. Rebel forces advancing on Kinshasa infiltrated the airport perimeter but were repelled by Zimbabwean troops and aircraft arriving to support the government of Laurent Kabila. In June 2015, a new international terminal was opened which can service one million passengers per year. Some computerize ...
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