Archinect - News

Roeoesli & Maeder Architects team up with local Kenyan builders to complete the new Swiss Embassy in Nairobi

2018-07-26T12:17:00-04:00

Having to work through a flurry of logistical challenges from 3,700 miles away, Lucerne-based Roeoesli & Maeder Architects (or ro.ma) led an international design team to successfully complete the new Swiss Embassy in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The architects describe the design as “an appropriate representation of Switzerland”, while also incorporating local Kenyan building practices and the skills of local companies. Roeoesli & Maeder won the commission in an open competition in 2011.

During the construction phase, Roeoesli & Maeder couldn't spontaneously drop by the site, so they observed the project through only photos. “Building was often done by ‘trial and error’. In other words, they build something (which does not necessarily have to correspond with the plans) and ask whether or not it is OK; if the answer is no, then it is demolished and a new attempt is made,” they explain.

Photo: Iwan Baan.

The exposed concrete building has an earthy red dye whose color...

"Making Cities Together," a sustainable urban future conference, to be held in Kenya

2017-04-04T18:43:00-04:00

What's the most efficient, ethical, and sustainable way to remake public spaces? If you're in Nariobi, Kenya this May 3-4th, you'll have the opportunity to answer that question by attending the "Making Cities Together - The City We Need through Safe, Inclusive and Accessible Public Spaces" conference as put on by The Urban Thinkers Campus in collaboration with Project for Public Spaces, UN-Habitat and Placemakers, KUWA - Urban Spaces by People, and Architects Without Borders. Keynote speakers include PK Das, Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana and Michelle Provoost. Here are the full details, courtesy of the original press release:

The Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) model is an initiative of UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign, conceived in 2014 as an open space for critical exchange, promoting sustainable urbanization across the globe. In order to implement the New Urban Agenda after Habitat III in Quito in 2016, the UTC 2.0 will be action-oriented by focusing on developing action plans and implem...

Experimenting with a universal basic income in Nairobi

2016-04-19T14:56:00-04:00

In the old days of policymaking by aphorism—give a man a fish, feed him for a day!—simply handing money to the poor was considered an obviously bad idea. How naïve—you can’t just give people money. They’ll stop trying! They’ll just get drunk! The underlying assumption was that the poor weren’t good at making decisions for themselves: Experts had to make the decisions for them. As it turns out, that assumption was wrong.

"[...] GiveDirectly, has decided to try to permanently end extreme poverty across dozens of villages and thousands of people in Kenya by guaranteeing them an ongoing income high enough to meet their basic needs—a universal basic income, or basic income guarantee."

[Update: according to GiveDirectly, while their pilot project will likely be in East Africa, near their current projects, it will not be in Nairobi.]

For more on the growing conversation around universal basic incomes, check out past Archinect coverage:

Remembering Architect Ross Langdon, partner and unborn child - victims of Nairobi terrorist attack

2013-09-24T12:20:00-04:00

It is with great sadness that we report that Australian/British architect and public interest designer Ross Langdon, 32, was among those killed in the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in recent days. He was killed alongside his partner, Elif Yavuz, who worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Kenya, and was just two weeks from her due date to give birth to their first child.

Archinect - News

Roeoesli & Maede​r Architects team up with local Kenyan builders to complete the new Swiss Embassy in Nairobi

"Making Cities Together," a sustainable urban future conference, to be held in Kenya

Experimenting with a universal basic income in Nairobi

Remembering Architect Ross Langdon, partner and unborn child - victims of Nairobi terrorist attack

Roeoesli & Maeder Architects team up with local Kenyan builders to complete the new Swiss Embassy in Nairobi