A Hospital Typology Translated: Transnational Flows of Architectural Expertise in the Clinique Reine Elisabeth of Coquilhatville, in the Belgian Congo

Architectural historians discussing transnational knowledge exchange have primarily focused on English- or French-speaking bilateral flows of expertise. This article goes beyond those boundaries to trace the multi-sited design process a colonial hospital for Europeans built in Coquilhatville, Belgian Congo. Western typologies underwent multiple typological innovations as they progressed from Brussels capital Léopoldville, and then remote town Coquilhatville. A surprising variety actors outside architectural discipline―administrators, engineers, especially doctors―impacted its design. To “translate” tropical climate racial inequalities, supplemented metropolitan expertise by drawing alternative connections provided Congo’s intersectional position within world. Individual travel experiences, participation research missions, direct personal contacts with other administrations all played role. Uncovering these history Coquilhatville’s Clinique sheds light how (hospital) architecture cannot simply be reduced “export.” It was actually product much more complex network exchange, so far insufficiently documented historians, that transcended conventional linguistic imperial borders.