When the Dutch Afrika Museum wanted to give its visitors an idea of current day Africa, African Architecture Matters advised them to ask people on the continent themselves how they wanted to be represented. An interesting experiment involving an architectural competition with an outcome unknown to the museum’s planners: ‘The time a Western ethnographic museum could say “this is how it is over there” is over.’

Read Femke van Zeijl’s article here.

… the meaning of architecture and planning for everyday life, based upon interviews with key persons in Dar es Salaam society and street interviews …

Dar es Salaam is a vital and vibrant city, the pumping heart of the country. It accommodates millions of people, all together to work, learn and live. Every corner of the country is represented and due to globalization also almost all other parts of the world.

Living together with so many people from different backgrounds and lifestyles does create it challenges and problems, but it certainly also creates opportunities. To accommodate all this, there are the city infrastructure and the buildings, from housing, schools, offices, factories, shops, shopping malls, restaurants and hotels to informal structures and sheds. Public spaces like markets, parks, squares and bus stations play an important role in the organization of the city.

The symposium ‘Global city – local identity?’ will focus upon Dar es Salaam in the global perspective and is organised by the Goethe Institute and the Architects Association of Tanzania.

It provides a valuable platform for staging the exhibition ‘Stars of Dar’, introducing an overview of the city’s best architecture and public spaces and the opinions on these by key members of the Dar es Salaam society.

The exhibition, organised by the Architects Association of Tanzania, ARDHI University and African Architecture Matters, will enhance the debate on the quality of spaces and buildings and the meaning planning and architecture has for everyday city life.

Ten architects and ten public personalities from Dar es Salaam will present their favourite and/or remarkable buildings and will motivate their choice. Next to this, also the public will be heard through street interviews at 3 public spaces.

These components will be presented in an exhibition, developed and built by students of ARDHI University. The opening of the exhibition will be combined with a debate on the importance of public spaces and buildings and meaning for daily city life in Dar es Salaam.

The exhibition will be shown during the conference and after that in an exhibition space for a period of 2 weeks.

Media training by Daladala TV during the workshop

The workshop can be followed via http://starsofdar.tumblr.com. The blog will also present the end results which can later be used for developing an architectural map of Dar es Salaam.

More info on the symposium and related activities like the production of an architectural journal by a group of young architects and students with help from Camenzind can be found via http://www.goethe.de/ins/ts/dar/en7861885v.htm

Van zaterdag 29 oktober tot zondag 6 november 2011 organiseert African Architecture Matters in samenwerking met Casamemoire en ARCAM een reis naar Casablanca en Agadir in combinatie met deelname aan de 5^de African Perspectives conferentie, die plaatsvindt van 3 tot 5 november 2011 in Casablanca.

De reis is bedoeld voor professionals op het gebied van stedenbouw, architectuur en woningbouw (woningcorporaties, ontwikkelaars, beleidsmakers en architecten) en richt zich op de ontwikkelingen van de modernistische bouwprojecten van de jaren ‘40 ‘50 in Marokko. Ook  uw Marokkaanse vakgenoten zullen deelnemen aan deze reis. Doelstelling is gezamenlijk kennis te nemen van de ontwikkelingen van deze eerste projecten van grootschalige woningbouw, die gekarakteriseerd worden door zeer inventieve, door bewoners zelf uitgevoerde en niet in deze mate geplande, transformatie. Toch lijken deze wijken nog steeds een prettige stedelijke omgeving te bieden. De reis beoogt te duiden  wat daar aan ten grondslag ligt.

Voor beide steden staan bezoeken aan enkele van deze wijken op het programma onder leiding van Casamemoire, een organisatie die zich sterk maakt voor het behoud en onder de aandacht brengen van het architectonisch erfgoed van Casablanca. Verder bestaat het programma uit presentaties en mogelijkheden tot uitwisseling van ideeën, onder andere als onderdeel van de conferentie African Perspectives. In de internationale debattenreeks ‘Debates on Tour’ organiseren wij in samenwerking met het Nederlands Architectuur Instituut ronde tafel discussies over de ongeplande transformatie van stedelijke ruimte en de mate waarop hierop geanticipeerd kan worden.

De reis is onderdeel van een groter geheel waarbij getracht wordt door analyse van de ontwikkelingen in deze wijken te leren en inspiratie op te doen voor de ontwerpopgave waar we in Nederland,  in Amsterdam maar ook in andere steden voor staan.

Het ligt in de bedoeling om in het voorjaar van 2012 een vervolgonderzoek op te zetten, bijvoorbeeld  in Amsterdam Nieuw-West.  De resultaten van dit onderzoek worden ism ARCAM gepresenteerd in juni 2012. (zie ook Planning Thriving Cities, a mutual economic and thematic exchange mission)

Het maximum aantal deelnemers voor deze reis is 25 inclusief de begeleiding. Indien u interesse heeft in deelname, neem dan gerust contact op met African Architecture Matters via office@aamatters.nl. 

Sankofa Garden City Park van prijswinnaar Kobina Banning

Inventief, dynamisch en creatief, zo kun je veel Afrikaanse stadsbewoners karakteriseren. Middels 12 visies op de gebouwde toekomst van Afrika, ontwikkeld door Afrikaanse ontwerpers en kunstenaars, laat Blueprints of Paradise zien dat Afrika meer is dan wildparken, sloppenwijken, conflicten en natuurrampen. Sommige van de ontwikkelde ideeën zouden wel eens goed van pas kunnen komen in onze eigen steden en dorpen.

Op 17 juli en 11 september zal Berend van der Lans, directeur van African Architecture Matters en gastconservator van de tentoonstelling Blueprints of Paradise, een lezing houden voor Museumjaarkaarthouders in het Afrika Museum. Hij zal vertellen over de ideeën en mensen achter de inzendingen en de Afrikaanse steden waarvoor de plannen bedacht zijn. Voor kinderen is een parallelprogramma ontwikkeld. De lezingen starten om 14hr. Zie voor meer informatie en registratie www.afrikamuseum.nl of mail info@afrikamuseum.nl.

The Blueprints of Paradise exhibition in the Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal (NL), during the well attended opening event on 9 April 2011. Many thanks to Infofilm, Leiden, for the great videos! Follow the debate ‘African Cities: problem or solution?’ via http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blueprints-of-paradise on 18 June, 15hrs.

The Blueprints of Paradise prize winners Kobina Banning, Oladayo Oladunjoye and Martin Kruger introduce their entries, while chair of the jury Joe Addo reflects upon the competition and exhibition.

See this video of the award ceremony of Blueprints of Paradise on 9 April 2011 in the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal (NL). Follow the debate ‘African Cities: problem or solution? on 18 juni 15:00hrs via www.ustream.tv/channel/blueprints-of-paradise

If you can’t make it to Berg en Dal on 18 June, you are able to follow the debate via http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blueprints-of-paradise and contribute to the debate via Twitter with hashtag #BOP. Join us in real or virtual!

18 June 2011 - 15:00hrs.
Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal (NL)

image from the entry Garden City Park from Kobina Banning

It is a pleasure to invite you for an introduction to the Blueprints of Paradise exhibition, developed by African Architecture Matters in collaboration with the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal, the Netherlands.  You are welcome for a programme, organised with the Afrika Museum and ZAM magazine on 18 June from 14:30hrs. onwards.  Please confirm your attendance through office@aamatters.nl. There is limited capacity for the event, so we advise you to be fast.

Programme
14:30  auditorium open
15:00  introductions and debate

• Introduction June issue ZAM magazine by editor in chief Bart Luirink
• Introduction to the exhibition by Berend van der Lans
• Debate ‘African Cities: problem or solution?’ with some of the Blueprints participants, jury member Femke van Zeijl (moderation), Bart Luirink and Antoni Folkers

16:00  visit of the exhibition with curators Siebe Rossel (Afrika Museum) and Berend van der Lans
17:00  drinks at the restaurant ‘De Kleine Kalebas’

The exhibition is based upon the results of the competition ‘Blueprints of Paradise’, which invited African architects and artist to make proposals for the built future of Africa. An international and multi-disciplinary jury selected 12 projects to be presented in the exhibition, among which the prize winning projects. See more information on the competition and exhibition via http://aam-blueprintsofparadise.tumblr.com.

 
Many entries addressed the city and more precisely the multi-disciplinary way public space is used in African cities. The jury concluded that some of the solutions brought forward in the entries could provide fruitful inspiration for addressing planning challenges in western cities. A surprising statement, since in many western eyes African cities are synonymous for poverty and problems.
 
Based upon quotes and statements by the participants of the competition, the debate will touch upon the quality and challenges of life in African cities. Can African cities set an example for the rest of the world?
 
As mentioned above, please confirm your attendance via office@aamatters.nl, indicating your name(s), organization and phone number.  Registered guests can enter the museum for a reduced entrance fee (€ 5,00 per person). If you are a Museumkaart holder, the museum entrance is free. You will find the Afrika Museum at Postweg 6, 6571 CS BERG EN DAL. (See for directions www.afrikamuseum.nl)
 
We look forward to seeing you on the 18th June!
Kind regards,
 

Antoni Folkers and Berend van der Lans
Directors African Architecture Matters

The special print of the artwork Mandela Landscape by Anton Corbijn and Berend Strik for ZAM international will be on show.

Information on the participants of the debate:
 
Femke van Zeijl is a Dutch freelance journalist and writer who focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa. She studied history at the University of Utrecht and then switched to the Academy for Journalism in Tilburg. She travels to the African continent several times a year, staying for prolonged periods of time in for instance the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique or Burkina Faso. From a socio- economic and cultural perspective she portrays people and their everyday lives, thus giving a human face to global developments. She writes for various Dutch newspapers and magazines and her work has been published in American, British and German media. In October 2010 her book Gin-tonic & Cholera on city life in Sub-Saharan Africa was launched, for which she stayed in six different cities all over the continent. In 2007 she published Een nacht in een vijzel, a book about the position of women in Africa. Visit also www.fvz-journaliste.nl
 
Bart Luirink lives in South Africa since 1993. He was correspondent for Dutch newspapers and radio stations. Also he contributed to magazines like Vrij Nederland, HP/De Tijd and Nieuwe Revu. Since 2004 he is editor in chief of ZAM Africa Magazine. He published among others Zingende pijnbomen, een kroniek van Amsterdam in Afrika (1996) and Moffies (1998). In 2008 he edited the collection Voor Nelson Mandela, Verhalen en voetnoten bij zijn negentigste verjaardag. With Madeleine Maurick he works on the struggle for homosexuals Africa. In 2010 his book Puur goud was launched, describing his experiences in South Africa.
www.bartluirink.nl
 
Antoni Folkers is an architect and urban designer. His professional career started as researcher and designer in Ouagadougou before joining the Institute for Tropical Building (IFT) of Dr G Lippsmeier in Starnberg, Germany. For Lippsmeier he became Resident Architect for East Africa in 1988. In 1992 he founded FBW Architects with Belinda van Buiten en Geoff Wilks [www.fbwarchitecten.nl]. The firm has won various awards for their innovative projects in the field of technology, culture and the public realm in African and Europe.
Antoni Folkers is co-founder of ArchiAfrika and published a wide range of articles and papers on architectural subjects. Recently (April 2010) he published two works on African architecture: Mtoni - Palace, Sultan & Princess of Zanzibar and Modern Architecture in Africa. The latter book, on his 25 years of building and research experience in Africa, was also subject of the PhD research under supervision of Wytze Patijn, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology.

In June 2010, the Afrika Museum and African Architecture Matters organised an international design contest for African architects and designers. They were asked to produce a blueprint for the Africa of the future. The 12 best designs are on show at the Afrika Museum in Nijmegen up to October 2011 as part of the Blueprints of Paradise exhibition. Last weekend, the exhibition opened and the winners received their awards. 

(photo Afrika Museum)

Public space

The jury awarded a third prize (€2500) and a shared first prize (2 x €6250) to designers from South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. The organisation was surprised by the fact that the entrants did not focus on designing new buildings, but rather sought solutions to overcrowding in cities by redesigning the public space.

Village square in the city

Traditional African rural life revolves around market squares that are not only used for commercial purposes, but also for meetings and festivities. These meeting places, often in the shade of a big tree, give people the opportunity to participate in village life. The village market is basically a home for the entire community. In urban life, such a meeting place is lacking, says South Africa’s Martin Kruger. He made a short film depicting migration from rural areas to the city. The film shows the unique character of African public space to the catchy tunes of Miryam Makeba’s Pata Pata Song. His design entitled The African Agora as Generator landed Martin Kruger third prize in this contest.

Multifunctional street furniture

In order to prevent African cities from succumbing to total gridlock due to the proliferation of permanent buildings and reduced mobility, Oladayo Oladunjoye claims facilities are needed that can easily be moved elsewhere or used otherwise. His entry entitled Re-designing the Temporal Spaces stresses that public space is far too important to surrender it to ill-considered random usage. A life-size realisation of this shared first-prize winning project is on display as part of the exhibition.

Garden City

Kumasi, the old capital of the Ghanaian Ashanti kingdom, is home to West Africa’s busiest and largest market. This market is bursting at the seams and the commercial hustle and bustle is pouring into surrounding streets and neighbourhoods. Kobina Banning came up with a solution to this problem in a design that involved using a piece of wasteland right next to the market. This design merges western planning with African traditions. The plan entitled The Garden City has been fully tailored to the needs of people, and encompasses facilities for public transport, personal care, and relaxation. Nature plays a major part in this design, as Banning has selected a wide array of different kinds of plants to ensure the park is in bloom all year round. This overall project earned Banning first prize, which he shares with Oladayo Oladunjoye.

more information on the exhibition follows on this website soon!

(photo Afrika Museum)

The ‘Blueprints of Paradise’ exhibition at the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal will run through to 30 October 2011.

 Afrika Museum, Postweg 6, Berg en Dal (close to Nijmegen)

 Opening hours

• Monday to Friday: 10am – 5pm
• Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: 11am – 5pm