(2 students of the CUAD with the architects Mbaye Sene and Cherif Chiattara during the workshop)

African public space may well provide successful solutions for public space challenges in the West – was the conclusion of the jury of the Blueprints of Paradise competition, developed by the Afrika Museum and AAmatters in 2010.

 As part of the Dak’art Biannual, the College Universitaire de l’Architecture de Dakar and African Architecture Matters explore this further in a workshop with over 40 students of the 1^st to 3^rd year of the school, taking place in the week before the Dak’art Biannual, being opened by Senegal’s new Minister of Culture Yousou N’Dour on the 11^th of May. 

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ProCredit Ghana is a micro finance bank, supporting many small and medium size businesses and in that sense contributing to the sustainable development of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.  

ProCredit takes its catalyst position serious and is not limited to

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After its first presentation in October 2011, the exhibition will now be presented on the well visited Msasani Slipway in Dar es Salaam.

The exhibition Stars of Dar light-footedly introduces you to the most interesting public spaces and buildings of Dar es Salaam. It tells the visitor about their history but most important: what we can learn from them if we think about the future of our beloved city, according to Mustafa Hassanali, Mbaraka Igangula, Mrisho Mpoto, Njenje Band and other people in Dar’s society. During a workshop, freshly graduated Ardhi University (ARU) students went out to interview them and further conducted 3 short films with interviews at Kariakoo, Posta and Mwenge: what do the users think is great about these places, and what can be improved?

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Edited by Luis Fernández-Galiano, this volume gives insight in some of the interesting projects of the African continent and the Middle East. AAmatters director Antoni Folkers contributed to this publication with a chapter on Central and Eastern Africa, but also ArchiAfrika friends Iain Low, Nnamdi Elleh, Suha Ozkan, Hassan Radoine and Farrokh Derakhshani contributed to this book. Among many others you will find work of Daniela Diwouta-Kotto, Francis Kéré, Noero Wolff architects, Jose Forjaz, KILO architecture, Peter Rich and FBW Architects. You can flip through the book here. 

The ArchiAfrika newsletter on the National Museum of Ghana is just spread, with contributions from Rachel Stella Jenkins, Rafael Chikukwa, Mae-ling Jovenes Lokko and Fatric Bewong. Does the role of National Museums in Africa have to be reviewed? In this newsletter, through the case of the museum in Accra, this question is discussed. In Accra this discussion is continuing through the activities of the Friends of the National Museum. You can download the newsletter here in English and French.

(photo Elena Cattani)

The exhibition Learning from Casablanca is dismantled over last weekend, but it lives on through some reviews and a facebook page. Casamemoire and AAmatters are preparing for the next steps in this journey. We will explore what the lessons from Casablanca could mean for contemporary planning challenges. We keep you updated.

Meanwhile read the reviews at Archdaily and Made in Medina and follow Learning from Casablanca on Facebook.

Opening session during the key-note lecture of Saskia Sassen (photo Rachel Stella Jenkins)

Nearly 4 weeks ago, the 5th African Perspectives conference opened in Casablanca, Morocco. Another successful gathering of students, academics and professionals in the fields related to architecture and planning in Africa, organised by the network organisation ArchiAfrika.

The conference closed after a number of very interesting interventions, exhibitions and debates, in search for new ways of approaching the challenges of planning for the future, not only restricted to Africa. More news on this will follow.

This photostream will give you a glimpse of the events taking place.

Read about the latest news and activities of African Architecture Matters in the newsletter via http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=a985ccc339a56cccb87d5c9a5&id=dedadaa6da&e=7d3fe8663b.

There is news on African Perspectives 2011, the exhibitions Learning from Casablanca and Stars of Dar as well as the announcement of lectures / debates at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. 

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With projects in Sao Paulo and Ghana, students from the academy in Amsterdam are intrigued by the position of the architect while working abroad. Heinrich Wolff, highly successful prize winning architect from South Africa is often crossing borders in his country. After his lecture for ‘designers of the future’ in Delft on 10 November (see www.designersofthefuture.nl), he shares his ideas on border crossing with the Amsterdam crowd. Kunle Adeyemi (to be confirmed) has been key member of Rem Koolhaas’ OMA team for many years. After his involvement in OMA’s innovative projects in his home country Nigeria, China and elsewhere in the world, he started NLé, focusing on shaping the architecture of development cities. AAmatters director Berend van der Lans is co-founder of ArchiAfrika, the network organization with focus on architecture in Africa which has border-crossing in the core of the veins.

After three short introductions on the basis of their work, the speakers will be in discussion on the pros and cons of working in other environments. You are all invited to join. You will find the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture here.