Join us on 22 June 2023 for the book launch of ‘AFRICAN WATER CITIES’ at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam. African Water Cities is a vivid collection of essays, research, photographs and visions of African cities and communities by waterfronts evolving through two of the most significant trends of our time: rapid urbanization and a… Continue reading African Water Cities Book
NLÉ Works and North East Productions collaborated on a documentary research titled “Learning from Lamu: Water, Urban Transformation and African Heritage” headed by award-winning Nigerian Architect and Urban Researcher Kunlé Adeyemi (Lagos/Amsterdam) and North East Productions founder Azza Satti. As part of the research project, the documentary focuses on on the effects of the Lamu… Continue reading Learning from Lamu
NLÉ was thrilled to be part of the First UN-Habitat Assembly, addressing the crucial theme of “Innovation for better quality of life in cities and communities”, and to showcase a model of the Makoko Floating System (MFS™), African Water Cities project – displayed in the United Nations Office pond in Nairobi, Kenya. MFS by NLÉ… Continue reading 1st UN-Habitat Assembly
In the wake of a rising global interest for resilient cities and water management issues related to human habitat, and building on “Jean Prouvé, the better days” exhibition, atelier LUMA initiates a masterclass on floodproof and demountable architecture and self construction. The masterclass will investigate this global concern on a local level in a 6-day… Continue reading Atelier LUMA Masterclass
The resources of Durban seem to be –at first glance –mostly natural. And as it is the case for developing countries, the order of business is to have natural raw material exported, and processed product imported. But Durban seems to be trying to break this tendency by paying attention to the oportunity to develop industry… Continue reading Building Industries in African Water Cities
BUILDING INDUSTRIES IN AFRICAN WATER CITES This studio explores the city of Durban to examine the challenges and opportunities presented by the impacts of urbanization in the social, physical, and environmental context of the African continent. The aim is to build industries–to produce a series of new architectural, infrastructural, and urban solutions learning from the… Continue reading Harvard GSD Studio – Spring 2017
WATERFRONT Atlas is a collaborative knowledge platform that brings the local intelligence of aquatic communities like Makoko, Lagos to the world at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia curated by Alejandro Aravena. It aims to identify, gather and cultivate the intelligence of communities and cities by water with a motivation to… Continue reading Waterfront Atlas Exhibition
Surging youth populations can fuel tremendous agricultural growth that will impact the global economy, but, if underemployed, they present a risk. By 2050, Africa’s population will double, with 1 billion projected to be under 18 years old, and many others regions are experiencing similar trends. How can we harness the potential of this promising demographic… Continue reading Global Food Security Symposium 2016
Florence is getting ready to host the second edition of Unity in Diversity, the mayors’ summit which gathered mayors from all over the world for the first time in November 2015. Starting from what has now become a platform subscribed by the mayors of over 60 countries, we decided to focus on Cities’ Resilience for… Continue reading Unity in Diversity Conference
One collaboration with the Chicago Park District and the City of Chicago pairs three world-renowned architects with students from local architecture programs at SAIC, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The architects and students are designing three distinct vendor kiosks that will permanently stand on the Lake Michigan shoreline.… Continue reading NLÉ | SAIC Summer Workshop
ArchiAfrika Foundation is hosting a conference entitled Accra Revisited: an urban conference on Accra, in Accra, with friends of Accra. The conference will take place from February 25-27, 2015 at the Children’s Library in central Accra and is open to the public. Key participants of the conference include the Deputy Minister of Finance Honorable Mona… Continue reading ACCRA REVISITED 2015
For over 25 years the Center for African Studies at the University of Florida has organized annual lectures or a conference in honor of the late distinguished Africanist scholar, Gwendolen M. Carter. Gwendolen Carter devoted her career to scholarship and advocacy concerning the politics of inequality and injustice, especially in southern Africa. She also worked… Continue reading Carter Conference 2015
The Z-Axis is an annual conference that aims to instigate a relevant discussion on issues that relate to architecture and urbanization in the context of India. Curated by the Charles Correa Foundation (CCF), The Z-Axis is a multi-platform event that intends to connect the fraternity of thinker-doers in the domains of architecture, urban design, planning,… Continue reading Z-AXIS CONFERENCE 2015
The NZIA’s 2015 Conference will be held at the Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland, from 10-13 February. The programme includes a strong line-up of presenters from Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. Events include public lectures, social events, architecture tours, a Pecha Kucha and an industry exhibition. Early-bird registration has closed. For registered architects,… Continue reading IN:SITU CONFERENCE 2015
According to U.N. estimates, the population of Africa will double by 2050, growing at a rate that will quickly surpass the population of China and rival Asia as the world’s most populous continent by 2100. With this explosive growth, African communities and cities are expanding rapidly and aggressively into unchartered territories. Africa’s population surge coupled… Continue reading CORNELL UNIVERSITY STUDIO
Sustainable development is defined as: “development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come.” As the world is moving closer to an all-encompassing pursuit of sustainability, the construction industry is not being… Continue reading Green Building Council Namibia Convention 2014
TEDxEuston is an event that aims to reflect the ideas and inspired thinking of a new generation of African leaders, presenting to an audience committed to engaging and re-engaging in an active and meaningful manner with the continent. TEDxEuston is a TED-like event locally organised by a team of African professionals in the spirit of… Continue reading TEDxEuston SALON 2014
“Amsterdam’s first Week van de Stad (Week of the City) took place November 6-10. The Week had a full programme of activities that celebrate the city, but also have it take a closer look at itself. The theme of the first Week van de Stad was ‘Water and the city, Amsterdam as water city’. Amsterdam… Continue reading AMSTERDAM WEEK VAN DE STAD 2013
2/13 LECTURE SERIES: WHAT I DID NEXT—PRINCETON’S ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICES “During the academic year 2012/13 Princeton SoA staged a series of public conversations around alternative practices in architecture through the work of 85 distinguished alumni from the last 25 years. At a moment when the profession is going through some important questions on a global… Continue reading PRINCETON LECTURE SERIES ‘WHAT I DID NEXT’
“Rwanda hosting the 2nd International Tripartite Conference (ACP /EC/UN-HABITAT) on Sustainable Urbanisation for Poverty Eradication. The high level conference was held under the theme “Sustainable Urbanisation as Response to Poverty Eradication in ACP countries – Slum Upgrading and Community Empowerment”. The conference brought together 300 participants from 60 countries, while three quarters of the participants… Continue reading UN-HABITAT CONFERENCE, KIGALI 2013
Despite record economic growth in the last decade, which offers a glimpse of an emerging middle class and sustainable economic development, Africa is facing a considerable infrastructure deficit. A deficit that is hindering its competitiveness in the world market. For the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa, the BUILD AFRICA forum, to be held in Brazzaville,… Continue reading BUILD AFRICA FORUM, CONGO BRAZAVILLE 2014
The WTN is a curated membership community comprised of the world’s most innovative individuals and organizations in science, technology, and related fields. The WTN and its members – those creating the 21st century – are focused on exploring what is imminent, possible, and important in and around emerging technologies. The WTN brings key players together… Continue reading WORLD TECHNOLOGY NETWORK SUMMIT 2013
Forget what you think you know about Africa, the world’s second-largest continent is journeying to new frontiers. Come face to face with this inspiring vision as you adventure with la Rinascente into an Afrofuturist design culture.
Given the diverse nature of cities in the African continent, the reading of urbanity in Africa is particularly complex. Although urban formation and development is extremely varied and differentiated from city to city, common challenges which include the provision of services, land ownership, and citizenship feature heavily in today’s African urban landscapes. The architectural fabric… Continue reading HARVARD AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE 2013
Science Foo Camp, also known as “Sci Foo”, is a series of interdisciplinary scientific camps organized by O’Reilly Media (FOO stands for “Friends of O’Reilly”), Digital Science, Nature Publishing Group and Google Inc., by invitation only. Each year, the event brings together between 200 and 300 leading scientists, technologists, writers and other thought-leaders at the… Continue reading SCIFOO CAMP WITH GOOGLE, NATURE & O’REILLY 2012
The process of suburbanisation seems to be advancing unstoppably. A faceless, anonymous mesh of settlements is spreading itself around the old core cities. Do we really want to continue this destruction of one of our most important resources, the landscape, and of one of our most important cultural achievements, the city? The International Summer Academy Zurich… Continue reading ETH INTERNATIONAL SUMMER ACADEMY, ZÜRICH
With Heinrich Böll Stiftung.
To realise Qatar Foundation’s vision of a library with a million books in its main collection, we conceived a building in which the entire collection would be instantly visible within a single space. Our design for the Central Library, provides unprecedented immediate access to books – a reactionary approach to re-empower books as the primary… Continue reading Qatar National Library
The impact of rapid urbanization and economic growth of cities in Africa is now common knowledge, yet it can not be over emphasised. At the same time the impact of climate change is now day to day reality. Particularly in coastal African cities that now experience significant increases in sea level rise, rainfall and flooding.… Continue reading African Water Cities Project
PICNIC is a leading European platform for innovation and creativity. We function as an incubator and accelerator for game changing ideas, concepts, products and services. Through our activities, we address the mega trends of our time and explore how to creatively apply technology in order to meet business, social and environmental challenges.