Anthony Almeida (b. 1921 in Dar es Salaam) is a Tanzanian architect who has produced numerous buildings over the past fifty years. Almeida was educated in Bombay and graduated as an architect in 1948 at the JJ School of Architecture. His studies were hindered by the civil disobedience campaign during the struggle for independence. One of the projects he worked on in India was a 'pandal', the temporary bamboo structure, 158.5 metres in diameter, which housed the first post-independence Congress Party meeting.
Upon the death of his father in 1948, he had to return to Dar es Salaam to take charge of the family trading firm and coconut plantation. Instead, he decided to work as an architect. At that period there were only two architects' practices in Tanzania; these were branch offices of British firms. For Almeida, the very first Tanzanian architecture graduate, there was no room in these practices and he had to accept a position as a designer in an engineering firm. However, only two years after his return to Dar es Salaam, Almeida succeeded in establishing his own architectural practice, the first locally owned and run, RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) registered firm of architects in Tanzania. In the initial years he had a tough struggle to get acceptance that an indigenous architect could be capable of succeeding in the architectural profession.
Almeida was one of the first to introduce Modern Architecture in his country; he produced a large quantity of high quality buildings throughout the founding period of the Tanzanian nation.
Source: ArchAfrica
