A pictorial overview of Architecture by Ken Lever, his companies and Jonathan Lever. Designing for African conditions -Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique and a few fun extras.

I introduce the book with a background on Zimbabwe, formally Rhodesia for some context, as Architecture always sits in a bigger context, and then showcase a few examples done by us, although the focus here of this book is my fathers work - I have done plenty of other books with my more wild, sculptural colourful work. I have had to be selective as the volume of work done will easily fill with pictures and drawings 20 books, so this is a snippet overview really.

I will be doing at some point in the future some more focused books on healthcare planning, looking at the planning of Hospitals for African conditions. Its a funny turn of events really with healthcare, as with Africa having generally much more space allocated for Hospitals than most developing countries, typically the approach has been more smaller buildings linked with under cover walkways, which is in contrast to these mega hospital designs you see being produced in America and Australia - all which came apart with airborne infections there is a lot to be said for splitting hospitals up into a campus multi building configuration - so something that has come about by default really from Africa - so some good lessons there.

But this book has some good examples of robust Architecture from Africa, built to last, mostly very practical and no nonsense frills. Budgets were normally always tight, and one has to try liven up with what you have.

Anyway, my father is a multi award winner, having had many of his buildings win awards, some big complexes too My father like my grandfather is hugely responsible for developing large swathes of Zimbabwe, and educating hundreds and hundreds of locals along the way. I have been on a tangent getting out some of my own stuff out in books - well 43 books, this is the 44th book, so been buried in that - some which I believed were key and important to the world - essential in fact, including in healthcare planning, infection control and the world and politics - but now eventually got round to this kind of historical background book.

In many ways I should have done it first - but due to the volume of work, this will be if you like a chapter one type book on the historical works and I will get round to collating the rest when I get some energy - I am a bit burnt out now after 44 books!!!. .