Mid-July, on the 13th to be exact, The Ng’ambo Atlas came a full circle and was finally presented to the audience in Zanzibar. The book presentation took place in the beautiful setting of Kiponda 742 building (Hifadhi Zanzibar’s recent acquisition) and was led by the Director of the Department of Urban and Rural Planning, Dr. Muhammad Juma. The Minister of Information, Tourism and Heritage, the Hon. Mahmoud T. Kombo received the first copy of the atlas and gave a thoughtful,

The Ng’ambo Atlas. Historic Urban Landscape of Zanzibar Town’s ‘Other Side’ is available for free from African Studies Centre Leiden digital library. To download the book follow the link. ----------------- Book details: Ng’ambo is the lesser known ‘Other Side’ of Zanzibar Town. During the British Protectorate the area was designated as the ‘Native Quarters’, today it is set to become the new city centre of Zanzibar’s capital. Local and international perceptions of the cultura

Last week on Thursday 24th we had the opportunity to present Ng’ambo Atlas to the public during the conference The Future of the African City at the African Studies Centre Leiden. The book launch was followed by a debate on the relevance of material and immaterial culture and urban planning for cities on the African continent with Prof. Filip de Boeck, Dr. Muhammad Juma, Prof. Nnamdi Elleh, Prof. Ronald Wall and OluTimehin Adegbeye, moderated by Aart Oxenaar. The first copy o

The new book: Ng’ambo Atlas illustrates the Historic Urban Landscape of Zanzibar Town’s ‘Other Side’ (LM Publishers). Ng'ambo Atlas is produced by the Department of Urban and Rural Planning in Zanzibar and African Architecture Matters. Ng’ambo Atlas book launch is organised in collaboration with the African Studies Centre Leiden and will take place on Thursday 24 January 2019 at 15:30 in the Academy Building, Leiden University, Rapenburg 73, 2311 GJ Leiden - Klein Auditorium.

Hoba Hoba Spirit from Morocco on stage Berend van der Lans visited the Festival sur le Niger in Ségou for a contribution to a conference on the architecture of Ségou in the context of the festival. The Dutch national newspaper Volkskrant included his report on their Afrikablog in Dutch . Below you will find the text in English. More images and some videos to be found via this album on Facebook. In Ségou, nowadays a somewhat sleepy town on the banks of the Niger, history still

During a lecture on Tuesday 25 October as part of the 60th Anniversary of Stadsherstel Amsterdam, the international activities of Stadsherstel will be in focus. Paul Morel will expand on the interest from abroad in Stadsherstel’s approach that combines private investment and interest with the public goal of using heritage as a driver for development. If this approach is successful in Amsterdam, it may also be effective in other parts of the world, where there is great potenti

In the past weeks, a team of Zanzibar’s Department of Urban and Rural Planning and AAmatters have been working in Ng’ambo to explore the hidden stories of this historically rich area in Zanzibar town. On Friday 1 April they will present their preliminary findings at the Urban Narratives / Simulizi Mijini symposium at the British Council in Dar es Salaam. The symposium further brings an interesting group of people together from other parts of the continent and beyond, like Han

On Friday 1st of April we had the pleasure to present our project Ng’ambo Tuitakayo alongside renown scholars and urban activists as Hannah Le Roux, Johan Lagae, Joy Mboya and Iain Jackson (only to mention a few) at the Simulizi Mijini symposium on Urban Heritage in Dar Es Salaam. The symposium was jointly organized by DARCH and the TU Berlin. It started with a session on urban heritage in an international African context and gradually narrowed down its focus towards Tanzania

On 30 January 2016, AAmatters together with its partners City of Amsterdam, Government of Zanzibar and Stadsherstel Amsterdam, organises the symposium ‘Finding Stories :: the role of immaterial culture in city planning’ (photo AforA architects) It seems obvious that culture and immaterial heritage are important components for regeneration plans in cities. However, it remains a challenge to find the often hidden stories representing the culture of the existing communities and

Yesterday we concluded an exciting series of events including a successful workshop that kicked off the A2Z2A project. This project involves an intensive collaboration of the Zanzibar Department of Urban and Rural Planning and the City of Amsterdam, focusing on the development of policies and tools in urban heritage management. Zanzibari and Amsterdam experts during the design studio The Government of Zanzibar has recently developed National Spatial Planning Strategies and is