“A Construção de um Império: território, conexões e arquitectura na Companhia de Diamantes de Angola” | “Building an Empire: space, connections and architecture in Diamang, Angola”

Beatriz Serrazina DOCTORAL THESIS

This PhD research questions the space built by the Diamond Company of Angola (Diamang) in Lunda, Angola. Diamang was a private enterprise, set up in 1917 and shut down in 1988, which operated mostly under the Portuguese colonial empire. Throughout a large concession area, the company promoted (infra)structures on diverse scales, programmes, and contexts to secure thousands of workers. Despite Diamang’s significant role in multiple political and material construction(s) across time and space, little is known about its impact on the production of architecture and expressions of urbanity in Africa. The company also presents connections with neighbouring geographies, particularly the former Belgian Congo, thus providing ground to explore transnational and transimperial networks in the construction of European colonialism.