Lesotho

1970-1991

Challenges to Self-reliance
Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho
1970-1991

Christopher Lauzon
 Lesotho
1970-1991

Political History of Lesotho

1868
British agree to place Basutoland under protection from the Boers

1966
Independence from Britain

1970-86
Prime Minister Chief Leabua Jonathan fails to cede power
Dissolves Parliament

1986-91
Military control led by Justin Lekhanya

1993
Constitutional Monarchy re-established

1998
Riots after questionable election results
By Request, International Forces enter Lesotho to maintain order

2014
Unease between executive and military intensifies

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 Lesotho Lesotho
1970-1991 1970-1991

Introduction to deterioration. The economies of scale combined with local labour and building material made each project
affordable to those with limited means. By the end of the program, 200-300 schools were established – a truly
impressive number for only five years. Since departing Lesotho to return to South Africa after the end of apart-
Lesotho is a small landlocked country located in the highlands of southern Africa. Since gaining indepen- heid, Low’s technique continues to be copied by locals with new buildings now successive generations removed
dence from British rule in 1966, Lesotho has faced multiple challenges towards achieving political stability and from the original project.5
sustained economic growth. The population of Lesotho remains overwhelmingly rural-agrarian, with under 25
percent of its population living in an urban district. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, the country is inescapably
linked with the social, political, and economic conditions of its larger neighbour. During Lesotho’s authoritarian
period (1970-1991), the question of apartheid soured this international relationship. Without a Caucasian elite,
Lesotho never institutionalized racial segregation, and its leadership was sympathetic to militant anti-apartheid
forces operating in South Africa.
The authoritarian rule experienced in Lesotho can be segmented into two divisions. The first period
began in 1970 when Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan suspended of the national constitution rather than accept
electoral defeat. In 1986 with the secret blessing of South Africa, a military coup led by Justin Lekhanya replaced
Jonathan. Lekhanya held hegemony in the country until 1991, when a second military rebellion removed him to
reinstate democratic rule.1
The architectural heritage of Lesotho, let alone its authoritarian architecture, remains to be rigorously
researched. There are several contributing factors behind this void. First, Lesotho has a tradition of commonly
held land without private ownership. Only in the 1970s did this begin to change until it was codified in the Town
and Country Planning Act 1980. Prior to this legislation, permits and plans were not required for construction,
which now deny researchers any comprehensive database in which to search. Second, the capital of Maseru
was of negligible importance until only recently. In 1966 its population was 37,000 – merely 1 percent of the
country’s population. By the end of paramilitary rule in 1991, its population had undergone an unprecedented
and unplanned increase to over 200,000 – now greater than 10 percent of all Basotho. In a city of new residents,
recollecting its urban past can be a challenge. This effect was exacerbated when riots destroyed much of the
central city in 1998.2
Architecture under the regimes of Jonathan and Lekhanya were also likely depressed due to the con-
struction boom that occurred just prior to their reigns. With independence in 1966 came the need to establish
proper government infrastructure. By 1970, these projects were complete and lacked justification to be rebuilt.
Architecture requires money, which Lesotho had very little, especially after foreign aid diminished at the start of
the autocracy. No evidence was found that either leader had a position on architecture, or at least architecture
considered important by Western bias. Severely undeveloped, most state funds went to the unromantic tasks of
sanitation and road expansion.
With little evidence of control by the regime, architecture in Lesotho was driven primarily by economics.
Free from state-sanctioned racial segregation and gambling restrictions, a small but robust hotel and conference
industry developed in Maseru. Completed in 1970, the Holiday Inn (later renamed and expanded into Maseru Notes
Sun Hotel and Casino) was the first modern hotel in the country, and also had the first installed elevator. Its mar-
quee sign was also one of tallest structures in Lesotho only to be dwarfed by the Victoria Hotel in 1976. Con-
structed adjacent to the infamous Basotho Hat building, the equally kitsch Basotho Shield Exhibition Centre
opened in the early 1970s.3 [1] “Lesotho,” in Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa, ed. Tom Lodge, Denis Kadima and David
The most significant architectural development to arise from autocratic Lesotho was the theory and Pottie (EISA, 2002), 92-3.
practice of Iain Low. Born and educated in South Africa, Low escaped apartheid - with its problematic State-com- [2] David Ambrose, Maseru: An Illustrated History (Morija, Lesotho: Morija Museum and Archives, 1993),
missioned architectural work, and mandated military service – to reside in Lesotho. Between 1982 and 1987, the 5-6.
young architect and academic implemented the Training for Self-Reliance Project (TSRP) that he designed [3] Ibid., 185-7.
and coordinated. Funded by an IDA loan from the World Bank, the program’s official objective was to upgrade
education and schooling facilities, but it further integrated the concept of self-reliance and taught locals the [4] OH Architecture, “OH 15 Iain Low Lesotho Work,” last accessed December 20, 2016, http://oharchitec-
means to construct their own small-scale buildings.4 ture.blogspot.ca/search/label/Lesotho.
Low and his team designed construction templates that lumped similar programs into identical plans. [5] Uncube Magazine, “Models of Practice: Iain Low in Lesotho,” last accessed December 20, 2016 http://
Each design was also over-engineered in anticipation the buildings would not be properly maintained and prone www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/11926055.

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 Lesotho Lesotho
1970-1991 1970-1991

Unknown Architect, Holiday Inn, Maseru, Lesotho, 1970 Unknown Architect, Victoria Hotel, Maseru, Lesotho, 1976
Client: Holiday Inn International Client: Unknown

Completed in 1970, the Holiday Inn (later renamed and expanded into Maseru Sun Hotel and Casino) was the At 11 storeys, the Victoria Hotel continues to be the tallest building in Lesotho.
first modern hotel in the country, and also had the first installed elevator.

Source: Booking.com, goo.gl/1eppcq Source: Matrix, goo.gl/U3LKRh

Source: PoppeStamps.com, goo.gl/hmk5Of Source: Panaramio, goo.gl/Dd87FB

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 Lesotho Lesotho
1970-1991 1970-1991

Unknown Architect, Basotho Shield Exhibition Centre, Maseru, Lesotho, c.1971 Unknown Architect, Papal Pavillion, Maseru, Lesotho 1988
Client: Unknown Client: Government of Lesotho

Excessively kitsch, the Basotho Shield Exhibition Centre joined the adjacent Basotho Hat building. The Exhibition Centre Built for the tour of Pope John Paul II to southern Africa in 1988.
burnt down in 2011, but there are plans to rebuild it.

Source: Phillip Game, goo.gl/OTFTYv

Source: Rare Historical Photographs, goo.gl/YkXZjT
Source: Illustrated Atlas of the Himalaya 2006, goo.gl/STjQgL Source: goo.gl/l72yOi

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 Lesotho Lesotho
1970-1991 1970-1991

Iain Low, Training for Self-Reliance Project, Lesotho, 1982-87 Iain Low, Training for Self-Reliance Project, Lesotho, 1982-87

Iain Low combined Structuralist thinking from the 1970s with Postmodern and vernacular aesthetics of the 1980s to arrive
at a scalar, modular system that enabled replication by draftsmen who could adapt it to different topographies, materials,
and builders. The buildings were over-engineered for durability and deployed simple eco-friendly strategies: clear sheeting
for daylighting, trombe walls for passive solar heating, cross-ventilation, and rainwater harvesting.

Source: Wolff Architects, goo.gl/P0S4nW Source: Wolff Architects, goo.gl/P0S4nW

Source: Uncube Magazine, goo.gl/6uaH5e Source: Uncube Magazine, goo.gl/6uaH5e

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 Lesotho Lesotho
1970-1991 1970-1991

Iain Low, Maseru High School Library, Maseru, Lesotho, 1985 Iain Low, Qoaling Peoples’ Facility, Maseru, Lesotho, c.1985
Client: Maseru High School Client: Qoaling

Thanks in part to the educational facilites constructed by Low’s team, Lesotho has one of the highest literacy rates in This facility includes classrooms, a church, and housing in the village of Qoaling. The placement of each building was
Africa. carefully place to act as a catalytic for urban intervention. External spaces are recognized as places of movement and
gathering.

Source: Wolff Architects, goo.gl/P0S4nW Source: Wolff Architects, goo.gl/P0S4nW

Source: Uncube Magazine, goo.gl/6uaH5e Source: Uncube Magazine, goo.gl/6uaH5e

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 Lesotho Lesotho
1970-1991 1970-1991

Iain Low, Khubetsoana Primary, Maseru, Lesotho, c.1985 Iain Low, Matsieng Primary School, Matsieng, Lesotho, c.1985
Client: Khubetsoana Client: Matsieng

Low utilized a density template for Khubetsoana Primary. Originally open on the main floor, it has since been enclosed to Differences in building material give just enough artistic agency to the builders. No two buildings are exactly alike.
meet growing enrollment.

Source: Wolff Architects, goo.gl/P0S4nW

Source: OH Architecture, goo.gl/FnJM Source: OH Architecture, goo.gl/FnJM

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