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Blending social impact practices, architecture, and economic development initiatives the non-profit organization rise International aims to build and create Lesotho's first Architecture and Design library. From now until August 1st the African Library Project will be collecting books for rise... View full entry
With the second weekend of Coachella underway, many festival-goers have already flooded social media with their experiences and favorite Instagrammable installations. Laid across the Coachella Valley are mesmerizing installations by architects and designers whose work blends art, architecture, and... View full entry
By championing virtues such as speed, technology, youth, and flight, the Futurists worked to cement Italy’s status as highly advanced and, thus, superior. In Asmara, the handsome structures built between 1935 and 1941 became multi-faceted tools of oppression.
Eight decades later, these Italian-designed edifices are still standing, albeit in need of rehabilitation. But preserving Asmara’s Futurist architecture necessarily preserves the fascist agenda that erected them in the first place...
— Atlas Obscura
Though the Futurists are featured in virtually every textbook on Modernism, their politics can be described as more than controversial. As they embraced speed, technology and scientific progress, the Italian group was also upfront about its misogyny, sympathetic towards fascist ideologies and... View full entry
Idia Designs, an architectural design firm, has revealed some preliminary details on the chosen design of its New Administrative Capital’s landmark, the “Oblisco Capitale Tower,” which is deemed to surpass Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in stature, Invest-Gate reports.
“It is still a concept,” according to the company’s statement. However, some photos and videos were released, showcasing the tower’s features.
Idia notes that state-run El Nasr Housing and Development is the project’s developer.
— Invest-Gate
Not many specifics are known so far about the obelisk-shaped megatall tower concept Oblisco Capitale Tower by Cairo/Dubai-based firm IDIA.Design, but the promotional material hints at a structure taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest building. View this post on... View full entry
Construction will start November 1 and the tower is expected be delivered on May 30, 2022, the Moroccan BMCE Bank of Africa announced [...]
The Bank of Africa Tower will have 55 floors with a luxury hotel, offices, and apartments. An observatory will crown the tower. [...]
The O Tower company has started developing the 250-meter tower which could be titled the tallest building in Morocco and in Africa.
— Morocco World News
Once structurally topped out, the 820-ft Bank of Africa Tower will not only be Morocco's tallest building but also take the crown from Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, at 732 feet currently the tallest tower in Africa. Image: BESIXDesigned by Spanish architects Rafael de la-Hoz Arquitectos and... View full entry
The prevalence of gated communities may also reveal what South Africans think constitutes middle class life. As it did under apartheid, it often means avoiding the poor unless they are servants, nannies or gardeners. Instead of creating racial segregation, gated communities often broaden the economic gap in South Africa and restricts development to privatized progress. — Quartz
"As state institutions flounder, estate living has gone on to offer attached private schools and clinics," Lynsey Chutel writes for Quartz Africa. "Privatized amenities in gated communities mean citizens don’t have to hold the city accountable, which is a shame because these are the citizens who... View full entry
Can you tell the difference between a Brakdak and an Afdak, a Sekwere or a Caka? Do you know your Domba hut from your Zulu one? An Inqolobane from an Indlu yezikhali?
Give yourself a pat on the back if you do. Truly, you deserve it. However, don't worry too much if you can't, as there's a new English-isiZulu architectural dictionary, just published by UKZN Press, which contains more than 1200 entries of local architectural terms.
— HuffPost
"I set out to study independent vernacular architecture in the 1970s, not realizing that a multitude of readings and meanings would emerge out of it," the book's co-author Franco Frescura, a former Professor and Chair of Architecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, tells HuffPost South... View full entry
The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on 17 August, that an Islamic extremist caused €2.7m in damages when he destroyed shrines in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012. This is the first time that the ICC has made a ruling solely on cultural destruction, setting an important precedent. [...]
Islamic extremists used pickaxes and bulldozers to destroy nine mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the Sidi Yahya mosque, built during a golden age of Islam [...].
— theartnewspaper.com
By ruling that "the destruction of the protected buildings has caused the suffering of people throughout Mali and the international community," the International Criminal Court in The Hague acknowledged the demolition of cultural heritage as a war crime — potentially treating recent acts of... View full entry
In this round-up of notable architecture in Africa, Wired takes a closer look at projects from Morocco to South Africa, including the Lideta Mercato in Ethiopia by Xavier Vilalta and the Bosjes Chapel by Steyn Studio. As the piece notes, "Contemporary African architecture is extremely varied: it... View full entry
But what is the repertoire of concepts, ideas and visions that inform the work of urban planners in the Global South — in Asia, Latin America and Africa? Are they still under the spell of their colonial and postcolonial masters? Or have they developed their own ideas and their own yardsticks, commensurate with the respective culture of their country and region? — citiscope.org
"This insight leads to the most important quality of sustainable urban planning in countries of the Global South," urban planning expert Einhard Schmidt-Kallert writes in his commentary piece on Citiscope, arguing that "Planners need to develop urban planning visions that take into consideration... View full entry
Due to the large influx of refugees, sheet walls of many temporary houses have begun to wear out. And there are other major constraints. There’s low water supply, deforestation, and extremely hot temperatures, and a rainy season which often results in heavy flooding. Plus Kalobeyei remote location creates many obstacles. There are no commercial flights to the area, and it can take up to 3 days to get there by road for the capital, Nairobi, where some materials may have to be sourced from. — UN-Habitat
Shigeru Ban has signed an agreement with UN-Habitat to design up to 12,000 new homes in the Kalobeiyei refugee settlement site in Northern Kenya. Commissioned in response to the settlement’s rapid growth, which is expected to outnumber its original capacity of 45,000 within a year, the new... View full entry
How will China's $36.1 billion dollar investment shape the future of Africa? While China only has 66 projects over the continent compared to the United States' 91 projects, it has pledged about ten times the total amount of money, and the lion's share of that cash is earmarked for Egypt. As Global... View full entry
The Nka Foundation recently revealed the winners of the 2017 Land Art Competition for Ghana...architects, landscape architects, engineers, and students alike were invited to submit their most inventive ideas for large-scale and site-specific public art installations in rural Ghana. Entrants had to emphasize creating a unique arts village experience and how their design functions as a place. — Bustler
Here's a glimpse of the prize-winning entries:1st place: Earth Archive Project by Yusuke Suzuki and Léo Allègre of Yusuke Suzuki Design Office in Japan2nd place: Nonnegligible Village by the Urban Active Space Research Studio at Dalian Polytechnic University in ChinaTeam: Ruixuan Li, Jiazi... View full entry
From a self-sustaining city to refurbished-shipping containers, private sector real-estate developers are offering both big and small solutions — BBC News
Nancy Kacungira looks at how entrepreneurs are tackling the housing crisis in Lagos. View full entry
The Miracle for Africa Foundation has given the go-ahead for a new library designed by Steven Holl Architects in Malawi. The first building for a new campus plan, also designed by Steven Holl Architects, the 66,000 sq. ft. library will be built, in part, with local materials like bamboo and stone... View full entry
