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.

Sapiens Building / Costalopes

Architects: Costalopes
Location: Luanda, Angola
Interior Décor: Costalopes
Project Year: 2015
Photographer: Fabrice Fouillet
Website: www.costalopes.com

Gross Floor Area: 10,758 Sqm

- 26 December 2016
- Edwin Seda
Commercial , Commercial Centres , Contemporary , Contemporary African Directory , Editor's Choice , Selected Works ,

From the Architects:
The Sapiens Building is located in a former industrial zone 500 metres from the Avenida Marginal and the Bay of Luanda. The plot contains two other buildings: in the north-east, the headquarters of the INSS, the 14 storey Angolan Social Security; and in the south-east, a 20 storey residential building named Kings Tower.

The Sapiens Building, which rises to six storeys, occupies a south-western position. Though smaller in size, it stands out for its abstract and elegant trapezoidal form and, in particular, its significant contribution to the urban experience of the complex as a whole.

One enters the building from the south-west via a spacious hall, in which the perpendicularly aligned (east-west axis) central nucleus arises, where a public stairwell constitutes a feature element. Open to both sides of the nucleus, the staircase provides an insight on each floor into the dynamics of the building and its flows, movements and inner life, thus celebrating its social aspect.

Also, on each floors, the programme is divided into 4 distinct areas with a view to maximising the internal organisation of each department in the institute and to ensuring the best use of the common spaces by all the students during their free periods.

The Architecture is thus as a tool that combines education and cultural energisation.

CLICK TO REVIEW LINKED STORY

Currency Museum / Costalopes
The new Currency Museum is located on the bay waterfront of Luanda, in the heart of the city downtown, at the Major Saidy Mingas Square, nearby the charismatic headquarters of the National Bank of Angola. The program was pretext for two major interventions. On one hand, it dispose...

- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...
- © Sapiens Building. Costalopes Architects. Fabric...

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

If you want your own avatar and keep track of your discussions with the community, sign up to archiDATUM >>

SELECTED WORKS

- Freedom Park, Phase 1 / GAPP + Mashabane Rose Architects + MMA
- 25 Nov 2015
Situated on a prominent "koppie" (hill) overlooking Tshwane, Freedom Park’s vision is to become “a leading national and international ico...
- Nike Football Training Centre Soweto / RUF Project + Nike Global Football
- 21 Apr 2016
Cities are living organisms- without the right cultivation, they wither and die. Architecture has the power to stitch individuals into a ...
- Aquiles Eco Hotel / Ramos Castellano Arquitectos
- 05 Dec 2017
Located in the main square of a small fishermen village, Aquiles Eco Hotel aims to be integrated in the architecture and in the social st...

CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIRECTORY

- International Conference Center / CAAU Architects
- 22 Apr 2015
Located on 10ha of a 213ha site in the Ouaga 2000 district, the International conference center project, complemented by an immense urban...
- Bloomsbury Waterfront Development/ NLé Works
- 21 Apr 2015
The project is a premium office space that maximises the great views across the city’s waterfront within a strategic site plan that incor...
- Netherlands Embassy in Mozambique / Kaan Architecten
- 16 Apr 2015
Man, security, diplomacy, dignity, respect, nationhood, the state, separation of powers, union and freedom...these are the words that imp...