Frame, Fortress, Fenestration: The Architectural “Enframings” of Rwanda’s Forests, 1904–2022

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Africa’s landscapes and populations were shaped by the architectures of empire. Lesser known is how empire used architecture to enframe Rwanda’s Virunga forests. This paper examines Rwanda’s marginal landscapes and the underrepresented histories of the Indigenous Twa, revealing how western architecture has contributed to the shaping of land and ethnic conflicts in the region. This paper explores the influence of architecture through the gorilla dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History, which framed the larger vision for Africa’s first national park; the dynamic forest dwellings of the Indigenous Twa; the impenetrable architecture of primatologist Dian Fossey; and the eco-tourism architectures around Volcanoes National Park. It questions how contemporary humanitarian discourses and architectural practices, rather than aligning with the intentions of environmental sustainability and social responsibility, often divert attention from how they sustain Rwanda’s performative, prejudiced, and uneven post-war realities, reproducing land-ethnic conflicts.