“Thinking and acting in the African context might provide essential clues to enrich the search for a new take on the future city where an inclusive and vibrant economy will arise.”
NEXT AFRICA; a fascinating montage of commentary and hybrid conditions of urbanity, history, informality and identity in Africa commissioned by the International Architectural Biennale Rotterdam.
NEXT AFRICA was a primer video for the exhibition “Urban Africa: What’s Next?” at the International Architectural Biennale Rotterdam 2016 – Next Economy.
In 2015 Edgar Pieterse, wrote the following description of exhibition in a call for projects.
“The International Architectural Biennale Rotterdam 2016 [was] an unique opportunity to tell African stories about the ills of de facto urbanism and, even more important, showcase innovative practices that align with the vision of THE NEXT ECONOMY. The unique conditions of urban Africa marked by economic, residential and regulatory informality and a multitude of hybrid conditions provide fertile opportunities to project what an organic alternative paradigm might involve as a practice.
Furthermore, the extremities of the African context can offer insights for a global debate about how best to transition urban systems and polities from a resource-intensive, spatially inefficient and exclusionary machine to one that can mutate on the basis of grassroots innovation, appropriate technological enhancement and constant adaptation through learning. In this sense, thinking and acting in the African context might provide essential clues to enrich the search for a new take on the future city where an inclusive and vibrant economy will arise. ”
The “Urban Africa: What’s Next?” Exhibition Featured the following projects:
Grand Inga – Democratic Republic of the Congo
Noor Ouarzazate – Ouarzazate, Morocco
Addis Ababa Monorail – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lagos BRT Lite Bus – Lagos, Nigeria
Suame Magazine – Kumasi, Ghana
WeCyclers – Lagos, Nigeria
Zabaleen – Cairo, Egypt
iShack – Stellenbosch, South Africa
Studio Kabako – Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
AfriLabs – 20 countries in Africa
Makapads – Kampala, Uganda
MPESA – Nairobi, Kenya
Madulammoho Housing Association – Johannesburg, South Africa
Social Justice Coalition – Cape Town, South Africa
AfriLabs – Twenty countries in Africa
CMAP – Human City Project – Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Festigraff – Dakar, Senegal
Credits :
Video: NEXT AFRICA from Mr Sakitumi and The Grrrl in their motion design studio MEME on Vimeo.
Excerpt: Edgar Pieterse
List of Projects: IABR 2016 Projects
Featured image: Screen shot from video