AAmatters Newsletter Fall 2019

The 3D version of the Ng’ambo Atlas in Seoul!

October 9, 2019

On 7th September the Seoul Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism opened with a bang, although a little bit disturbed by the typhoon Lingling. The theme of the 2019 edition of the Biennale was Collective Cities leading the long-term collaborators Amsterdam and Zanzibar to present their take on this in a joint exhibition. Still a few weeks to visit the exhibition, so don't wait much longer!

International Forum on Cultural Spaces in Kigali

October 28, 2019

In March this year Rwanda Arts Initiative (RAI) in collaboration with BOZAR (B) and AAmatters organised the International Forum on Cultural Spaces in Kigali, Rwanda.
The forum brought together local cultural, public and private sectors as well as international experts and representatives from cultural spaces in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, DRC and more, to discuss an action plan to improve the cultural infrastructure in Kigali and Rwanda, at large.
In connection with the forum and for further inspiration, an international student workshop was organised to develop adaptive reuse proposals for the Kigali Central Prison and the Ecole Belge. Both sites have recently been abandoned and are in perfect locations for multi-purpose cultural spaces. Students from the University of Rwanda, Uganda Martyrs University and the University of Cape Town worked day and night to feed the discussions with their bright ideas.
As a follow up to the forum RAI is currently working together with AAmatters and Laura Nsengiyumva on the mapping of cultural spaces in Kigali. A publication on the event and mapping will be available in 2020.

Playing Mahonda – High Rise wishes?

October 28, 2019

Mahonda , currently a small agricultural village north of Zanzibar Town, is planned to grow into a regional centre catering for a population of around 20,000 souls in 2035, according to the National Spatial Development Strategy developed by the Zanzibar Department of Urban and Rural Planning (DoURP) in 2015.
As one of the many new urban developments initiated on the Unguja Island, Mahonda was chosen as a case study for a workshop aiming to test the adaptive planning principles developed in the book To Build a City in Africa: A History and a Manual (Nai010, 2019). This gave Rachel Keeton, the co-author of the book and a PhD researcher at the Delft University of Technology the chance to put theory in practice, so to say.
The workshop took place from 21 – 27 September 2019. Its programme was developed by the DoURP in collaboration with Play the City and AAmatters. Play the City (a global practice that supports public and private parties on large scale development projects through city gaming) was responsible for the participatory process while AAmatters brought in its know-how on the development of planning documents in Zanzibar and provided context insights.

Africa and the Academy in the 21st Century - An interactive multi-disciplinary conversation - Basel, 1-2 November 2019

October 28, 2019

25 years ago, the conference and landmark publication ‘Africa and the Disciplines’ reflected upon Africa’s position in relation to selected academic disciplines, questioning its apparent marginal position within them and highlighting continent’s contribution to the emergence of new subjects and ideas in the respective fields.
The Centre for African Studies of the University of Basel decided the time was ripe to look at the matter again to find out what new insights have emerged in the fields since the seminal conference. This will be done during a two day long conference including four, interactive and interdisciplinary, plenary sessions with ‘paired conversations’ between two scholars from a particular discipline.
We are honoured to take part in the event through Berend van der Lans’ contribution to the conversation on Urban Studies.

AAmatters Library

October 28, 2019

Throughout its existence African Architecture Matters has managed to build up a substantial library on subjects related to African architecture and urban environment. Most of our collection was acquired by Antoni Folkers who, together with Antie Kaan - De Nobel , was the caretaker of the library located in Utrecht until recently. Over the past two years large parts of our collection (including the Coen Beeker and Georg Lippsmeier Collection) have been handed over to the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal in the belief that the institution is better suited to make it accessible to a wider public.
Fortunately for us, many titles have also made their way to our library in the African Architecture Matters’ office in Amsterdam where they can now be enjoyed by anyone interested upon earlier appointment. You can get in touch with us by sending an email to: office@aamatters.nl.