Be aware, the presentation at the University of Nairobi of inclusive urban development is taking place on 18 April and not 19, as was mistakenly announced. See also below post. We hope to welcome many of you.
Join us at the University of Nairobi on 18 April at 14h30 for a presentation on the Art & Architecture At Work project, with examples of inclusive urban development. A special showcase is Nai Ni Who?, the city festival taking off in Nairobi in a couple of weeks. Speakers will be Joy Mboya, director of GoDown arts centre, Joe Osae - Addo, chairman of ArchiAfrika and Berend van der Lans (ArchiAfrika / African Architecture Matters).
The presentation will also reflect upon the workshop held at GoDown on 16 April and the presentation held at the UN Habitat governing council meeting on 17 April in Nairobi.
The presentation will be held in the Faculty of Architecture (City Square, add building, off State House Road, opposite the YMCA), level 6, in the architecture studio for 5th level students.
The UN Habitat Governing Council Meeting takes place in Nairobi from 15-18 April 2013. In collaboration with the European Commission and the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, as well as GoDown Arts Centre, ArchiAfrika and Wolff Architects, AAmatters is organising a workshop and a consequent presentation in the ‘off’ programme of the council meeting.
At the invitation of UN Habitat, the EC/BOZAR project Art at Work (expanded since the Kampala Regional conference into Art § Architecture at Work), will advocate in this high-level official forum the role of artists and architects for urban resonance: dream, inclusiveness, and creativity for urban welfare.
Since independences, African artists, particularly photographers, have documented urban life on the Continent, from daily pleasures and struggles, to critical urban, political and environmental issues affecting city life. New aesthetics have emerged, as well as a conscious will by artists to engage in urban development. The growth of contemporary art centres and art biennials in the last 20 years all over the Continent, and their urban programs, attest to this thirst for expression and commitment to the city. A new young generation of African architects is equally socially, culturally and environmentally conscious, placing priority on Africa-relevant resources, design, employment, and sustainability. They offer new approaches to urban planning and development, in tune with urban cultures and environmental issues.
A few best practice cases - researched and compiled by Berend van der Lans of African Architecture Matters and BOZAR - are presented, in the form of an exhibit and a side event, as inspirations for urban planning approaches that enhance social cohesion and stability in the city. A publication has been prepared that can be downloaded as pdf as well.
Antoni Folkers, mede-oprichter van AAmatters, is samen met Heinz Kimmerle, emeritus hoogleraar filosofie aan de Erasmus Universiteit te Rotterdam en in het verleden gasthoogleraar aan universteiten te Kenia, Ghana en Zuid Afrika gedoken in Marten Toonders universum. Het religie en geloof daarin hebben zij vergeleken met het Afrikaanse animisme.
The Dutch architecture magazine ‘De Architect’ dedicated their February 2013 issue to building in Africa. Next to attention for architecture on the urban edge, a clinic in Port Sudan and a master plan for Aksum in Ethiopia by Peter Rich, it also features a large interview by Harm Tilman with Belinda van Buiten, Antoni Folkers and Berend van der Lans on their experiences as architects in Africa and on developments on the continent.
op 4 februari spreken Berend van der Lans en Belinda van Buiten in het architectuurcafe van FASa/dE
locatie: ZEEP Architecten, Kleine Koppel 31, 3812 PG Amersfoort
Zaal open 19h30, start 20h00, toegang gratis
De grootschalige modernistische massawoningbouw maakte midden vorige eeuw een ware zegetocht. Van Europa tot Afrika, van de Verenigde Staten tot Amerika werden woonbuurten ontwikkeld volgens moderne principes. De Noord-Afrikaanse stad Casablanca deed daarbij dienst als proeftuin.
Europese architecten experimenteerden er met nieuwe woningbouwmodellen, alvorens deze principes mondiaal toe te passen. Ook in Nederland zijn vele van de nieuwe uitbreidingswijken volgens moderne ontwerpprincipes gebouwd. In de huidige tijd worden ze vaak gezien als ‘probleemgebieden’ omdat de architectuur er soms niet in slaagde om de sociale veranderingen (veranderende leefstijlen, andere groepen bewoners) het hoofd te bieden.
Ondertussen hebben de moderne proeftuinwijken in Casablanca een ware bottom-up metamorfose ondergaan. Vanaf hun realisatie tot op heden zijn ze voortdurend door hun bewoners getransformeerd, uitgebreid en aangepast. Bijvoorbeeld de Cité Horizontale in de wijk Hay Mohammadi, gebaseerd op het beroemde 8 x 8 Ecochard grid, onderging een van de meest succesvolle informele en particulier ontwikkelde transformaties. Het resultaat is een bijzonder aangename en mooie wijk om in te wonen.
De afdeling Architectuur van de TU Delft en African Architecture Matters deden in de voorbije jaren onderzoek naar deze transformaties en hun relatie tot de oorspronkelijke architectuur van de wijk. Het ‘Learning from Casablanca’-project onderzoekt het hoe en waarom van deze transformaties door de bewoners en stelt zich de vraag of de ervaringen in Casablanca een nieuw licht kunnen werpen op de wijze waarop over woonomgevingen in Nederland wordt gedacht.
Tijdens de avond maken we kennis met African Architecture Matters en haar projecten. Welke architectuur vraagt het transformatieproces in Afrika? Welke kansen zijn er voor intrinsieke groei en ontwikkeling van woonwijken? Biedt graduele ontwikkeling ook voor Nederland nieuwe perspectieven? Een Architectuurcafé over het verschil tussen ‘Hay Mohammadi’ en ‘Belgische toestanden’ en tussen anarchie en keuzevrijheid. Over grid + keuzevrijheid + tijd = kwaliteit + sociale samenhang.
The exhibition is closed, but you can find all about the exhibition here. The exhibition travels on, you will be informed about the next stop!
For the 125th anniversary of Maputo, African Architecture Matters and the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Maputo, together with the Faculty of Architecture and Physical Planning of the University Eduardo Mondlane of Maputo, the Department of Architecture of the University of Pretoria and the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University have the honour to announce the international art & architecture exhibition
MAPUTOPIA passado-presente-futuro
to take place in the
Conselho Municipal de Maputo atPraça da Independência.
from 30 November until 21 December 2012
opening hours:
Monday - Friday: 07:30 - 17:00h
Saturday - Sunday: 13:00 - 17:00h
‘Maputopia’ celebrates Maputo’s wonderful architectural qualities through a mapping exercise of its past, present and its possible future: another 125 years of architectural pride.
As of today, 1 October 2012, African Architecture Matters is continuing its services from Amsterdam. Our address:
African Architecture Matters
Balistraat 92-hs
NL-1094 JS AMSTERDAM
the Netherlands
phone +31 (0)20 463 78 80
e-mail office@aamatters.nl
Our multi media library remains in Utrecht. In case you wish to visit the library, please contact us through mediateque@aamatters.nl
The postal address of the Dutch secretariat of ArchiAfrika will remain in Utrecht, until the handover to ArchiAfrika Accra is completed by the end of this year.
You can follow us on twitter as well!
Our cities are planned to detail. Urban plans foresee an end product, a final stage. The reality is different, causing friction. Everything changes over time, so do the demands on the built environment. We need to address this and incorporate flexibility to allow for spontaneous developments.
Aerosol art works are often the first signs of this friction in our city scapes. Can aerosol art be instrumental? Does its bottom up origin legitimate it being a useful indicator? What meaning can Aerosol art give to the people, to the built environment? Does it allow for participatory trajectories and can it improve the social consistency in the city? What can architects, city planners and policy makers learn from it?
Speakers among others are Saquab Ashraf and Ike Ijeh (Blackstone Architects, UK), Abderrahim Kassou (Casamemoire, Morocco), Benjamin Benrakad, Martin Travers and Mohammed Ali, moderation by Afaina de Jong, editor of the publication For The People By The People.
Date: 27 September 2012
location: Van Eesteren Museum, Amsterdam Nieuw West
