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Jack DeBartolo 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. Image courtesy Jack DeBartolo Shebraber School. Click here to view more images.

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.

Frederic Schwartz Architects 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 One House for Africa. Click here to view more images.

Louise Braverman Architect 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. Image courtesy Louise Braverman Architect Village Health Works. Click here to view more images.

SHoP architects 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 The

Sharon Davis Design 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. Image courtesy Sharon Davis Design Women's Opportunity Center. Click here to view more images.

Steven Ehrlich Architects 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 Ahmadu Bello University Theater. Click here to view more images.

With the economies of many African countries growing rapidly, the continent's cities are beginning to reflect the enormous potential for creating a new urban realm. Photo: © Damon Winter/The New York Times By mid-century, 60 percent of Africa’s booming and relatively young population will live in cities like this modern metropolis, which, with more than 5 million people, is now the second largest on the continent. Photo © Stanley Greene/NOOR A road near the dusty capital, a few months before South Sudan became the world's newest nation last year. Chinese investors have a jump-start here, as they do in much

The architect spent 11 years traversing the continent, working on a book and reconnecting with his past. David Adjaye Photo: © courtesy Adjaye Associates Since starting his own firm in London in 2000, the award-winning David Adjaye has designed artists' studios, retail spaces, and public buildings such as the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, currently under construction in Washington, D.C. Born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents (his father was a diplomat), he grew up in various parts of Africa before studying architecture in London. Deputy Editor Clifford A. Pearson sat