Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies.

Posts
Thumbs

Antonio Esposito Reimagines the New City Of Mengomeyene In Equatorial Guinea With A Series Of Elaborate Graphics

In this set of hand drawings, Antonio Esposito reimagines the city of Mengomeyene in a series of Graphic images for the foundation plan of the new city in Equatorial Guinea.

The Elusive Element of Regional Urban Resilience and Social Awareness in Cities

With urban sites being places where the large percentage of the population dwells to alter their economic situation, large cities have become home to high concentrations of poverty. The motivations and forms of concealing this reality have resulted in large inequalities manifest in conflict and other forms of social disability palpable in the region today. In the greater expansion, conflict can...

Sudanese Students Are Protesting to Save Khartoum’s Historic Architecture

Sudan student protests show how much city planning and design matter. In this article originally published in The Conversation, Amira Osman and Mariam Mohd Abdallah focus on how city planning or lack of thereof in Sudan's main capital is casuign havoc across the city's old historic neighbourhoods.

Datum Antique: Sasaki Associates’ Green Lung of Cairo

In 1984, His Highness the Aga Khan announced his decision to finance the creation of a park for the citizens of the Egyptian capital. The only central location that was of suitable scale was the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74-acre) mound of rubble that had been a debris dump for 500 years. Al-Azhar Park, undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, has since proven to be both a popula...

Finding Stories :: The Role of Immaterial Culture in City Planning

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’

The Cities of Cogo & Corisco Master Plans / Page Think Architects

The influence of high modernism and revolutionary schemes to complement growing economies and cities remains a contested issue. Being particularly of concern to fast developing countries and the impact of modernism to societies with rich local traditions and norms, designers cannot shy away from making their contributions to these debate. Drawing master plans and re-envisioning their cities now...

Sarah De Villiers And The Fantastical Realm of Growth: The Idea Bank

Architecture is a solution oriented process and it aims at making life more valuable. Through questioning the present, designs are able to develop important stepping stones into the future. And though ideas at times seem wild at their inception, in the long run they prove formidable. Sarah De Villiers questions and challenges the present financial institutions with her heartwarming and welcome ...

Eko Atlantic City / AR+H Architects

Dubbed as the future Hong Kong of Africa, the new upcoming city of Eko Atlantic is the most impressive urban development project in Nigeria and is setup as one of the greatest engineering feats in Africa. It is set to present opportunities for investors, business owners, residents and commuters alike with financial, commercial, residential and tourist accommodations run by a state-of-the-art hi...

Bibliotheca Alexandrina / Snøhetta

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt is a project with one foot in the past and the other in the future. Done in 1989, the library oozes a neo-millennial political and soci-historical connotations from a previous existing library. It was meant as a connection of the city's history, a stark modern look and technological austere that decidedly would bring the town of Alexandria a landmark with bo...

Evolution of Pedestrian Bridges/ Urban Morphology

Africa is growing at an unprecedented rate with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projecting that urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa will double by 2030. With such statistics, urban designers (and planners alike) need to start drawing lessons from the successes and failures of existing cities. And in particular, the life of the average pedestrian in cities.

Dar es Salaam: An Emerging African Metropolis

With more than a century of cultural heritage and history, Dar es Salaam has shone its light as not only the main economic centre of Tanzania but also an urban hub for travel and entertainment in East Africa. The earliest reference to the town talks of a nearby settlement of the Swahili Shomvi people called Mzizima, short for Mji mzima translating to the Complete City. However, it was establish...

Kigali: A City’s Rebirth Into The 21st Century

Transcending the trials and tribulations of its dark past to become one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, Rwanda exemplifies the spirit of a progress with a bright future in the horizon. To some, it is referred to as ‘the Singapore of Africa’ due to its attitude towards development. And there is no other city that shares in this remarkable journey of rising up from the ashes as the Ci...

Tena Tower-Tena Lakes/ Manuelle Gautrand

Aimed for sustainability as well as innovation and a construction argued to offer many job opportunities in the city, The Tena Tower- Tena Lakes is an ambitious urban complex project with a mixed use tower, 200 villas and facilities set to be located in the wealthy district of Ouaga 2000 in the southern part of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Designed in the context of a landlocked country with few ...

Durban Beach Front Redevelopment / Design Workshop SA

The Durban Beach front development, is a revamp of the Durban’s Golden mile Promenade, orchestrated by Design Workshop: S.A. This development is located in Mini Town, the northernmost node of the four nodes in the city of Durban. It includes a restaurant, a skate park, the promenade, Amphitheatre, and public ablution. The primaryintervention was a new public facilities and restaurant building. ...

Great City or Terrible Place: Experiencing Lamu

While the history and origin of the Waswahili people remains a contentious issue, scholars of culture and house form have in the past acknowledged that there is an obvious difficulty in attempting to transfer ideas and concepts from one culture to another. Swahili culture has been seen to display a myriad of influences from the wider Indian Ocean, producing an integrated mix that is different f...

Great City or Terrible Place: The Durban Experience

Undoubtedly, when discussing great cities and urban themes, the colonial port-and/or-capital is still a major legacy that has yet to be overcome. Out of Africa’s 50 largest cities, fully 28 are cities of those historical types. Thirteen of the other 22 largest cities are in Nigeria and South Africa, pointing to another, related element of the colonial legacy. Durban is one such city- a historic...

Naomba, Naomba/ Nadir Tharani

In this article, originally posted on Dar Guide, August 2004 as Naomba, Naomba, Architect Nadir Tharani demonstrates how our spaces are bereft of human interaction and how as architects, designers, government and the common man, we have all failed towards human enrichment in our public spaces . When we sit down at the end of the day and look at our African Cities through a thin scope, don’t we ...

Dedan Kimathi Monument/ School of Fine Art, Kenyatta University

The sculpture stands on a pedestal placed in the middle of the junction of Kimathi Street and Mama Ngina Street, isolating it amidst the city traffic. The guard rails that surround it act as a nuisance in the approach, inconveniencing the overall placement and accessibility of the monument. Despite the physical separation, the sculpture is still visible; its position unscathed by shadow and the...

105 Corlett Drive/Paragon Architects

At 105 Corlett Drive, Birnam in Johannesburg, it’s impossible not to notice the floating concrete and glass office building by Paragon Architects, it’s a site to behold. This two storey office building sits atop a three storey parking podium, separated by double volume metal clad cone forms.