Archinect - News

A new mass timber proposal in Zanzibar would challenge Milwaukee's Ascent tower for the world record

2022-11-01T17:52:00-04:00

A proposed new residential project in Zanzibar, Tanzania, could challenge Milwaukee's Ascent tower for the title of world’s tallest mass timber structure after being unveiled to the public on October 1.

Rising 28 stories to a height of approximately 315 feet, the Burj Zanzibar is designed by the Berlin-based practice OMT Architects and will occupy a plot in the seaside city of Unguja’s Fumba Town, a roughly one-mile-wide planned “eco-town” designed by the German engineer consortium CPS to attract tech workers and businesses to the country.

In a statement to a local newspaper, OMT’s founder, Leander Moons, said it will stand as a “new ecosystem for the future of living.” The tower will reportedly feature a total of 266 residences (7 more than Ascent’s offerings) priced between $79,000 for a studio and $950,000 for the 26th-floor penthouse. Additional amenities include private garden terraces, a podium pool, and a retail component. CPS director Sebastian Dietzold added his view that ...

A domino-inspired design has been unveiled for Africa's potentially second largest tower

2021-09-03T18:42:00-04:00

A spiraling new supertower hopes to grace one of Tanzania’s most spectacular coastal islands thanks to an ambitious, albeit repurposed design from Dubai-based firm xcassia.

Taking its design from a set of dominoes, the proposed 70-story tower will inhabit a manmade island on the Zanzibar archipelago 100 miles away from the capital Dars es Salaam.

Once completed, the scheme could become the second-largest tower on the African continent as well as the first skyscraper to be built on a manmade island outside of Dubai.

Made up of 360 individual component “keys,” the 1.2-million-square-foot Zanzibar Domino Commercial Tower will play host to Africa's largest luxury hotel topped in addition to 500 residential units by an observation deck that offers visitors views of the surrounding Indian Ocean.

Related feature article on Archinect: The Emerging Female Architects of East Africa

According to the architect: “I dreamed of building this project for over a decade. Between its innate mathematic...

Lake Victoria Challenge looks to drone technology to transform rural mobility in the region

2018-12-07T14:36:00-05:00

The most densely populated rural area in the world, East Africa's Lake Victoria basin is home to 35 million people. Many in hard-to-reach, rural locations, these communities often lack necessary infrastructure, separating them from vital services as well as from markets where they can sell their produce.

Aimed at taking on these challenges, the Tanzanian government has teamed up with four organizations—including UNICEF, and the World Bank—to look at the potential of deploying drone technologies in the region. Known as the Lake Victoria challenge, the initiative aims at providing long-term opportunities for growth.

“The rural island communities in and around Mwanza are often only accessible by boat, which can be slow and expensive," said Hon. John Mongella, the Regional Commissioner of the Mwanza Region. "A drone network will support this existing infrastructure, improving access to healthcare and opportunity.”

Lake Victoria Challenge. Photo by Chris Morgan (Fundi Films/World Bank)

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UT architecture students design school in Africa

2011-06-15T15:08:48-04:00

In a collaborative effort, the University’s School of Architecture and the nonprofit organization Africa’s Promise Village are working together to build a school for the Maasai people in the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. After a trip to East Africa in September, Donna Gunn, executive director of the nonprofit, said she was moved by the plight of the many children who live in poverty.