This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Architectural Record logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Architectural Record logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Interviews
    • Reviews
    • Commentary
    • Editorials
  • PROJECTS
    • Building Types
    • Interior Design
    • Museums & Arts Centers
    • Adaptive Reuse
    • Colleges & Universities
    • Lighting
    • Snapshot
  • HOUSES
    • Record Houses
    • House of the Month
    • Featured Houses
    • Kitchen and Bath
  • PRODUCTS
    • Material World
    • Categories
    • Award Winners
    • Case Studies
    • Partners in Design
    • Trends & Insights
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Best Architecture Schools
    • Top 300 Firms
    • Theme Issues
    • Record Houses
    • Record Products
    • Good Design Is Good Business
    • Design Vanguard
    • Historical Archive
    • Cocktail Napkin Sketch
    • Videos
  • CALL FOR ENTRIES
    • Record Houses
    • Guess the Architect Contest
    • Submit Your Work
  • CONTINUING ED
    • Architectural Technology
    • Architect Continuing Education
    • Continuing Education Center
    • Digital Academies
  • EVENTS
    • Record on the Road
    • Innovation Conference
    • Women In Architecture
    • Webinars
    • Advertising Excellence Awards
  • MORE
    • Subscribe
    • Customer Service
    • Digital Edition
    • eNewsletter
    • Interactive Spotlight
    • Store
    • Custom Content Marketing
    • Research
    • Sponsor Insights
    • eBooks
  • CONTACT
    • Advertise
Home » Forward Thinking

Forward Thinking

Western-trained architects are designing housing, schools, and buildings for social services in Africa's expanding cities and its rural areas. Here's a look at a number of projects currently on the boards.

Forward Thinking
The Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), will be a 320,000-square-foot center for research in technology and science. SHoP snagged the $100 million commission through a competition sponsored by Bostwana's government, with its plan for a sustainable series of interconnected offices and laboratories; the BIH is designed to be the country's first LEED-certified structure. Government officials, who are still raising construction funds, hope the building will spur growth in the country's tech sector, decreasing the nation's economic dependence on diamond mining by providing a place for local and foreign entrepreneurs to incubate ideas and interact.
 
Image courtesy Shop Architects
Forward Thinking
The Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), will be a 320,000-square-foot center for research in technology and science. SHoP snagged the $100 million commission through a competition sponsored by Bostwana's government, with its plan for a sustainable series of interconnected offices and laboratories; the BIH is designed to be the country's first LEED-certified structure. Government officials, who are still raising construction funds, hope the building will spur growth in the country's tech sector, decreasing the nation's economic dependence on diamond mining by providing a place for local and foreign entrepreneurs to incubate ideas and interact.
 
Image courtesy Shop Architects
Forward Thinking
The Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), will be a 320,000-square-foot center for research in technology and science. SHoP snagged the $100 million commission through a competition sponsored by Bostwana's government, with its plan for a sustainable series of interconnected offices and laboratories; the BIH is designed to be the country's first LEED-certified structure. Government officials, who are still raising construction funds, hope the building will spur growth in the country's tech sector, decreasing the nation's economic dependence on diamond mining by providing a place for local and foreign entrepreneurs to incubate ideas and interact.
 
Image courtesy Shop Architects
Forward Thinking
The Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), will be a 320,000-square-foot center for research in technology and science. SHoP snagged the $100 million commission through a competition sponsored by Bostwana's government, with its plan for a sustainable series of interconnected offices and laboratories; the BIH is designed to be the country's first LEED-certified structure. Government officials, who are still raising construction funds, hope the building will spur growth in the country's tech sector, decreasing the nation's economic dependence on diamond mining by providing a place for local and foreign entrepreneurs to incubate ideas and interact.
 
Image courtesy Shop Architects
Forward Thinking
The Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), will be a 320,000-square-foot center for research in technology and science. SHoP snagged the $100 million commission through a competition sponsored by Bostwana's government, with its plan for a sustainable series of interconnected offices and laboratories; the BIH is designed to be the country's first LEED-certified structure. Government officials, who are still raising construction funds, hope the building will spur growth in the country's tech sector, decreasing the nation's economic dependence on diamond mining by providing a place for local and foreign entrepreneurs to incubate ideas and interact.
 
Image courtesy Shop Architects
Forward Thinking
The Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), will be a 320,000-square-foot center for research in technology and science. SHoP snagged the $100 million commission through a competition sponsored by Bostwana's government, with its plan for a sustainable series of interconnected offices and laboratories; the BIH is designed to be the country's first LEED-certified structure. Government officials, who are still raising construction funds, hope the building will spur growth in the country's tech sector, decreasing the nation's economic dependence on diamond mining by providing a place for local and foreign entrepreneurs to incubate ideas and interact.
 
Image courtesy Shop Architects
Forward Thinking
Former Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade commissioned New York'based architect Fred Schwartz to design One Family, One Home, an 800-acre town plan with 3,600 units of affordable housing north of the capital city, Dakar. The new town will also provide parks, shopping, schools, and other services for a working-class population. Ground was broken for phase one in October 2011, and construction is under way.
 
Image courtesy Frederic Schwartz Architects
Forward Thinking
A rendering of the site, as it will appear from the air.
 
Image courtesy Frederic Schwartz Architects
Forward Thinking
A rendering of the site, as it will appear from the air.
 
Image courtesy Frederic Schwartz Architects
Forward Thinking
In the 1960s, California architect Steven Ehrlich was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, working for Morocco's Department of Urban Planning. After his service, Ehrlich traveled around the continent, living in Mali for a time and finally arriving in Zaria, Nigeria, to teach architecture at Ahmadu Bello University. In the mid-1970s he completed his first work on the continent, for the university, a clay-and-mud amphitheater that features bas-relief carvings in a traditional pattern.
 
Photo courtesy Steven Ehrlich Architects
Forward Thinking
In 2009 Ehrlich won a competition to build the New Abuja Gate City, a 98-acre complex and symbolic entryway into the new Nigerian capital, Abuja. Commissioned by the government and designed to resemble a traditional bow harp, the gateway is meant to symbolize national unity. Its packed program includes a reception hall, children's zoo, gymnasium, and marketplace. It's not clear when construction will begin on the project.
 
Image courtesy Steven Ehrlich Architects
Forward Thinking
New Abuja Gate City is a 98-acre complex and symbolic entryway into the new Nigerian capital, Abuja. Commissioned by the government and designed to resemble a traditional bow harp, the gateway is meant to symbolize national unity. Its packed program includes a reception hall, children's zoo, gymnasium, and marketplace. It's not clear when construction will begin on the project.
 
Image courtesy Steven Ehrlich Architects
Forward Thinking
New Abuja Gate City is a 98-acre complex and symbolic entryway into the new Nigerian capital, Abuja. Commissioned by the government and designed to resemble a traditional bow harp, the gateway is meant to symbolize national unity. Its packed program includes a reception hall, children's zoo, gymnasium, and marketplace. It's not clear when construction will begin on the project.
 
Image courtesy Steven Ehrlich Architects
Forward Thinking
New Abuja Gate City is a 98-acre complex and symbolic entryway into the new Nigerian capital, Abuja. Commissioned by the government and designed to resemble a traditional bow harp, the gateway is meant to symbolize national unity. Its packed program includes a reception hall, children's zoo, gymnasium, and marketplace. It's not clear when construction will begin on the project.
 
Image courtesy Steven Ehrlich Architects
Forward Thinking
New Abuja Gate City is a 98-acre complex and symbolic entryway into the new Nigerian capital, Abuja. Commissioned by the government and designed to resemble a traditional bow harp, the gateway is meant to symbolize national unity. Its packed program includes a reception hall, children's zoo, gymnasium, and marketplace. It's not clear when construction will begin on the project.
 
Image courtesy Steven Ehrlich Architects
Forward Thinking
The nonprofit Women for Women International (WFW ) commissioned New York architect Sharon Davis, who had worked with WFW in Kosovo, to design the Women's Opportunity Center. The 5-acre 'mini-village,' with classrooms, dormitories, and communal spaces, is meant for women survivors of the war in Rwanda. Canopies of corrugated metal sit atop circular bases of handmade brick, fired and produced by local women. WFW hopes to open the center on March 8, 2013, International Women's Day.
 
Photo courtesy Sharon Davis Design
Forward Thinking
The nonprofit Women for Women International (WFW ) commissioned New York architect Sharon Davis, who had worked with WFW in Kosovo, to design the Women's Opportunity Center. The 5-acre 'mini-village,' with classrooms, dormitories, and communal spaces, is meant for women survivors of the war in Rwanda. Canopies of corrugated metal sit atop circular bases of handmade brick, fired and produced by local women. WFW hopes to open the center on March 8, 2013, International Women's Day.
 
Photo courtesy Sharon Davis Design
Forward Thinking
The circular brick buildings that comprise Davis's scheme for the center are organized around a central courtyard, seen here.
 
Photo courtesy Sharon Davis Design
Forward Thinking
Roofs of corrugated metal top each circular classroom.
 
Photo courtesy Sharon Davis Design
Forward Thinking
Davis's plan.
 
Photo courtesy Sharon Davis Design
Forward Thinking
Existing site
 
Photo courtesy Sharon Davis Design
Forward Thinking
Phoenix-based architect Jack DeBartolo partnered with the nonprofit Engineer Ministries International to design the Shebraber School, a K'12 facility in this rural town near the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. DeBartolo developed both a master plan and construction documents with a group of Arizona State University students of architecture and design. Now under construction, the library, community spaces, and school building are slated for completion in late 2013.
 
Photo courtesy DeBartolo Architects
Forward Thinking
DeBartolo developed both a master plan and construction documents for the Shebraber School with a group of Arizona State University students of architecture and design. Concept renderings show three areas of the complex designed for discrete activities.
 
Photo courtesy DeBartolo Architects
Forward Thinking
Proposed locations for various aspects of the master plan.
 
Photo courtesy DeBartolo Architects
Forward Thinking
A site schematic.
 
Photo courtesy DeBartolo Architects
Forward Thinking
A look inside several of the school's buildings.
 
Photo courtesy DeBartolo Architects
Forward Thinking
Building exteriors and outdoor spaces also each serve a specific purpose.
 
Photo courtesy DeBartolo Architects
Forward Thinking
Louise Braverman's plan for this 40-acre medical campus in Burundi, contracted by the nonprofit organization Village Health Works, includes a 29,000-square-foot women's health center, staff residences, and several other facilities. Though operating rooms require HVAC , the New York'based architect designed most of the buildings on site to be naturally ventilated, and the complex will produce its own electricity with photovoltaics and other energy sources. Phase one of construction'the staff residences'is scheduled for completion this fall.
 
Photo courtesy Louise Braverman Architect
Forward Thinking
This 40-acre medical campus in Burundi, contracted by the nonprofit organization Village Health Works, includes a 29,000-square-foot women's health center, staff residences, and several other facilities.
 
Photo courtesy Louise Braverman Architect
Forward Thinking
This 40-acre medical campus in Burundi, contracted by the nonprofit organization Village Health Works, includes a 29,000-square-foot women's health center, staff residences, and several other facilities.
 
Photo courtesy Louise Braverman Architect
Forward Thinking
This plan for a private international boarding school on 116 acres is modeled on a Maghreb military fortification, elevated and centered on a quad within its forested site (aerial view).
 
Photo courtesy Adjaye Associates
Forward Thinking
This plan for a private international boarding school on 116 acres is modeled on a Maghreb military fortification, elevated and centered on a quad within its forested site (elevation).
 
Photo courtesy Adjaye Associates
Forward Thinking
This rendered site plan shows the sprawling campus from the air.
 
Photo courtesy Adjaye Associates
Forward Thinking
Adjaye's design for a 52,000-square-foot five-star resort, commissioned by British-Ghanaian developer Soroma Capital, sits along Ghana's southern coast (below). It, too, draws on the country's history, incorporating a former German fort, built in 1683, that is now a World Heritage site.
 
Photo courtesy Adjaye Associates
Forward Thinking
This design for a 52,000-square-foot five-star resort, commissioned by British-Ghanaian developer Soroma Capital, sits along Ghana's southern coast. It draws on the country's history, incorporating a former German fort, built in 1683, that is now a World Heritage site.
 
Photo courtesy Adjaye Associates
Forward Thinking
This design for a 52,000-square-foot five-star resort, commissioned by British-Ghanaian developer Soroma Capital, sits along Ghana's southern coast. It draws on the country's history, incorporating a former German fort, built in 1683, that is now a World Heritage site.
 
Photo courtesy Adjaye Associates
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
Forward Thinking
August 16, 2012
Asad Syrkett
KEYWORDS humanitarian design
Reprints
No Comments
Architects have long traveled to far-flung corners of the world in search of inspiration, information, and work. But few places remain as unfamiliar to most architects as Africa—a continent with an area equal to the United States plus Europe and half of Asia. According to the World Bank, Africa's rural populations are moving into urban centers at such a rate that 60 percent of the people will live in cities by the middle of the century. Urban areas are booming, along with opportunity to build.
 
But many Western architects fail to see the potential. “People have very strong notions of Africa based on specific, singular images like famine and war,” says Bjarne Mastenbroek, whose Amsterdam-based firm, SeARCH, completed the Dutch embassy in Ethiopia in 2005. Increasingly, however, American architects are ignoring these misconceptions, working with not-for-profit foundations and government agencies to get commissions.
 
The most successful designs are those that don't just import stale Western ideas but respond to the local topography and culture. That's how New York–based design-build practice SHoP Architects landed the job to design the graphic, 320,000-square-foot Botswana Innovation Hub, a new center for technological and scientific research. Botswana's dry, hot climate and local basket-weaving tradition inspired aspects of SHoP's design, explains founding principal William Sharples. This project and a host of others—including a master plan for affordable housing in Senegal by New York–based Frederic Schwartz Architects and an opera “village” in Burkina Faso by native architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, who practices in Berlin—reflect the ambition of clients across the continent. One prolific client, the Aga Khan Development Network, which has raised the profile of Muslim architecture in Africa with a triennial award, has begun commissioning its own projects, including a university in development in Tanzania, with a master plan by Beyer Blinder Belle of New York and design by Weiss/Manfredi, also of New York, and Mexican firm Legorreta + Legorreta. Smaller but no less significant pro bono work for social initiatives—like Phoenix architect Jack DeBartolo's Shebraber School in Ethiopia or New York–based Sharon Davis's Women's Opportunity Center in Rwanda—points to an ethos of forward-thinking, inventive architecture on a variety of scales.
 
Such adventurous approaches don't mean there aren't serious challenges for architects who build in Africa. Simply transporting materials to a site can be a major stumbling block. Just ask Louise Braverman, who had rebar and other industrial goods unavailable in the small central African nation of Burundi shipped to the site of a new health complex from “as far afield as Dubai and Israel,” she reports. That's one reason why local design and building traditions often figure prominently in the work of Western architects in Africa. Increasingly, this is a way to meet the challenges posed by difficult climates and poor transportation infrastructure. In the years to come, the best of contemporary architecture on the continent is likely to be this hybrid of Western design and local construction methods, rather than an imposition of Western styles in the vein of the colonial era. The goal is “to break the gaps between the Western world and Africa,” says Mastenbroek of SeARCH. “We can create a dialogue through architecture.”

AR Subscribe

Recent Articles by Asad Syrkett

Cliff House

A Public Plaza Near an Ando Gem

Snapshot: Mine Pavilion

Related Articles

Rising Currents at MoMA: Thinking Big, Thinking Small

Philly Forward

Related Products

3D Thinking in Design and Architecture: From Antiquity to the Future

The Handbook of Interior Design

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

More Videos

AR Tremco Webinar


 


 

Events

December 12, 2019

Improving Building Delivery with BIM

Credits: 1 AIA LU/Elective; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 IACET CEU
May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations

BIM brings countless advantages to the construction team, but the biggest benefit lies with the owner. For architects continuing to develop and enhance delivery methods, BIM is the solution. In this webinar with Rob Glisson, AIA, principal at ROJO Architecture, see how BIM can help you reduce risk, accelerate schedules, establish more accurate budgets, decrease costs, and better serve your clients.

December 17, 2019

Minimizing Risk in Blindside Waterproofing Applications

Credits: 1 AIA LU/Elective; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 IACET CEU

May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations

This course will identify blindside waterproofing product technologies, their differences, the criteria for product performance, and how to design a waterproofing system accordingly. Best practices for mitigating application risks and managing critical areas prone to moisture infiltration will be reviewed, including the sequence of installation and for detailing failure points.

View All Submit An Event

Products

ENR Square Foot Costbook 2020

ENR Square Foot Costbook 2020

See More Products

Tweets by @ArchRecord

Architectural Record

AR December 2019 Cover

2019 December

In the December 2019 issue, Architectural Record reveals the winners of the annual Record Products contest.

View More Subscribe
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Survey And Sample
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Call for Entries
  • Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Renew
    • Create Account
    • Change Address
    • Pay My Bill
    • Free eNewsletters
    • Customer Care
  • Advertise
    • Architectural Record
    • Advertising Awards
  • Industry Jobs

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing