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.

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Rwanda Cricket Stadium / Light Earth Designs

The RCSF is not only building a future for Cricket in Rwanda, but is facilitating reconciliation, and the rebuilding of communities through the essential values of cricket. Light Earth Designs- an integrated architectural and structural consultancy specialized in sustainable technologies and communities- takes us through the design of the first dedicated international cricket ground in Rwanda. ...

American International School Johannesburg Aquatics Center / Flansburgh Architects

The American International School of Johannesburg is an independent school in South Africa serving students grades PreK-12. The school’s main campus in Johannesburg is sited on 58-acres of land located on the city’s northern edge. Formerly a horse farm, the school’s original buildings recall their rural roots in their building materials; white brick used to construct existing buildings remember...

Soleluna Mixed Use Development / Light Earth Designs

Light Earth Designs is spearheading yet another low-carbon building technology in the region. At the heart of Kigali, is Soleluna- a project which is retaining, re-furbishing and redeveloping its existing premises with a high profile multi-storey mixed use development that showcases innovative low carbon building technologies.

Angama Mara Lodge / Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens

Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens have spent the past 20 years developing a hand-crafted haute couture body of work in Africa. Where possible, their design philosophy has been to live onsite (in many instances in exotic locations such as North Island in the Seychelles), managing one project at a time by developing and creating a total design: a new language of architecture and lifestyle specific ...

Soweto Theatre / Afritects

You rarely see the impact that social projects ground upon their environment until you hit the ground running. The Soweto theatre is one such project. Setting foot on it is an absolute marvel. It is an art piece in itself and a canvas for art, a duality that theatres have been known for. The theatre is the culmination of both national and global best practices in theatre design. Various local a...

Mohammed VI Football Academy/ Groupe 3 Architectes

The Mohammed VI Football Academy located in Salé, on the right bank of Bouregreg River, opposite the capital Rabat is a private academy that offers education, schooling and Football. The Academy was initiated and partially financed by personal funding from the King of Morocco in 2006, with an aim to raise the ranking of national football to the top of the Africa charts and compete at internatio...

English Point Marina/ Broadway Malyan Architects

The English point marina apartments and gated community has perhaps been in the mouths of all investors and real estate buffs for close to two years now. But what does it have to offer in the architectural scene? It is the region’s first serviced marina to cater for the luxury boating world. English Point Marina is a contemporary development designed by Broadway Malyan, a major international ...

Calabar International Conference Center/ Henning Larsen Architects

Calabar, the capital of the Cross River State situated by the scenic river delta at the outfall of the Calabar River Channel, is already hosting numerous conferences and, with the completion of the new Conference Center, the city hopes to attract even more international meetings and tourists.

Art or Farce: Africa Renaissance Monument in Dakar is a Bold Statement of Either

Never before has a monument drawn so much publicity like the Renaissance Monument of Africa in Dakar. Whilst some art critics hail it as a symbol of power and robust resilience, other have termed it as an colossal expense with vague African features. Constructed of bronze, themonument is made of 3-centimetre thick metal sheets and depicts a family group emerging from a mountaintop: a full-lengt...

Naomba, Naomba/ Nadir Tharani

In this article, originally posted on Dar Guide, August 2004 as Naomba, Naomba, Architect Nadir Tharani demonstrates how our spaces are bereft of human interaction and how as architects, designers, government and the common man, we have all failed towards human enrichment in our public spaces . When we sit down at the end of the day and look at our African Cities through a thin scope, don’t we ...

Dedan Kimathi Monument/ School of Fine Art, Kenyatta University

The sculpture stands on a pedestal placed in the middle of the junction of Kimathi Street and Mama Ngina Street, isolating it amidst the city traffic. The guard rails that surround it act as a nuisance in the approach, inconveniencing the overall placement and accessibility of the monument. Despite the physical separation, the sculpture is still visible; its position unscathed by shadow and the...