Kinshasa Then and Now

Kinshasa was a village on the south bank of the Congo when Stanley passed through in 1877. He returned in 1881 and established Leopoldville on the banks of contemporary Kintambo and Ngaliema. A post was opened upriver at Kinshasa in 1883. In 1923 Leopoldville was named the capital, comprising both Kinshasa and Leopoldville, established at Kalina (now Gombe), while "old" Leopoldville remained the capital of the Province. The Leopoldville-Kinshasa agglomeration was renamed Kinshasa in 1966.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Kinshasa 2017 - Sabena Buildings

Only recently, while driving down Blvd. du 30 Juin, did I come to appreciate that the Centre 1113 building nearing completion at Ave. des Forces Armees might be an unintentional hommage to Claude Laurens' iconic Sabena Buildings (See Aug. 15, 2011). The twin apartment buildings were built in the mid-1950s to house Sabena Airlines personnel.