Island Modernity: Jamaican Urbanism and Architecture, Kingston, 1960-1980

Abstract

This paper explores peripheral modernity in the island of Jamaica. Jamaica’s self-perception of being an island, as evidenced in texts and imagery, is not one that is peripheral, bounded, limited, small, or isolated. The trope of islandness, of interest to travellers and tourists, has been expressed both visually and textually, but it centers on being a tropical location as opposed to islandness per se. Although there has been a practical, literary and visual connection with the sea, the sea has not been portrayed as a separator but rather as a conduit and connector, no different from a continental coast. The process of modernization of Kingston, the island’s capital and main port city, strongly reflects this ‘un-islanded’ or ‘continental’ self-perception, challenging the notion of peripheral modernity. Kingston was not imagined as a periphery at all by those who embraced and implemented the modernization project. This was so even while Kingston’s hinterland, during the period under study (1960-1980), was largely rural, under-developed and poor. Kingston’s geographical position, as a mainland port on a relatively large island, by Caribbean standards, facilitated the imagining and implementing of modernity following continental models. These arguments are built on an examination of the separate but interconnected ideas and practices of architect Wilson Chong, and the architectural firm Shankland Cox, using technical reports and periodical articles as primary sources.