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.

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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...

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- © 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...
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SELECTED WORKS

- Shelfie: Learning from Nairobi-Mobility / KISD, UoN, Goethe Institute-Kenya
- 16 May 2016
Thump! Thump! Thump! The strong, audible pumping heartbeat of the city of Nairobi can be felt as I thumb through the stethoscope designed...
- Goderich Surgical Center / TAMassociati
- 08 Feb 2016
It is a universal belief that architecture can be practiced everywhere. Good Architecture. We look at a hospital in Goderich, an elementa...
- Anura Vineyard New Events Venue / Inhouse Brand Architects
- 06 Aug 2017
Anura Vineyards, a breathtaking wine farm situated in the Cape Winelands, has revealed ‘spankingly’ modern interiors for its new events v...

CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIRECTORY

- Dar Mim / Septembre Architecture
- 14 Jun 2016
Renovation and extension of a house in the historic heart of the city Hammamet. The existing house is a traditional Tunisian courtyard ho...
- Red Pepper House / Urko Sanchez Architects
- 02 Jul 2016
The client, Fernando Torres, wanted a private residence that shared a connection with Lamu but was secluded from the main town itself. He...
- Universidade Agostinho Neto / Perkins + Will Architects
- 28 Mar 2015
At the outskirts of Luanda sits a unique contemporary institution of higher education. The University of Agostinho Neto expresses moderni...