Africa Architecture Awards winners 2017, Architects Design Prize, Best Buildings Projects News

Africa Architecture Awards

International Architectural Contest – global prize in sustainable design

29 Sep 2017

Inaugural Africa Architecture Awards Winners

The Africa Architecture Awards is the first-ever Pan-African awards programme of its kind

Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa by Choromanski Architects was named the overall winner.

Africa Architecture Awards Winners in 2017

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, September 29, 2017 – At a gala awards ceremony held on the rooftop of the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, the inaugural Grand Prix and Category Winners of the Africa Architecture Awards (www.AfricaArchitectureAwards.com) were announced on the evening of Thursday, 28 September 2017.

Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa design by Choromanski Architects:
Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa design by Choromanski Architects

Over 130 VIP guests were in attendance at this glittering event, including the Consul-General of France in Cape Town, Mr Laurent Amar, the Chairman of the French South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philip Geromont, and Claude van Wyk of the Kingdom of The Netherlands Consulate General in Cape Town.

The shortlisted finalists were flown into South Africa from across the continent and the world, and hosted by awards founder and sponsor Saint-Gobain (www.Saint-Gobain-Africa.com).

Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa building design by Choromanski Architects:
Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa building design by Choromanski Architects

The much-anticipated gala was the culmination of an ambitious two-year awards programme that was initiated and supported by construction industry innovator Saint-Gobain with the ultimate aim of stimulating conversations about African architecture as it cements its place in a global continuum.

The Africa Architecture Awards is the first-ever Pan-African awards programme of its kind. A steering panel headed by Professor Lesley Lokko guided the awards with strategic input from Ambassador Phill Mashabane, advisor Zahira Asmal, and patron Sir David Adjaye, one of the globe’s most influential voices in architecture.

According to Adjaye: “The Africa Architecture Awards are very critical. Now is the time to promote excellence and best practice on the continent. The Africa Architecture Awards are particularly important because this is the moment that a lot is happening on the continent in terms of development, in terms of the architecture that’s being produced.”

Adjaye’s statement is borne out by the high level of interest the competition has received from architects working on projects located in Africa. Over 300 projects from 32 African countries were entered into the awards.

For the inaugural edition of the Africa Architecture Awards, the organisers set themselves an initial target of 150 entries from 20 African countries. Consider then, what a huge task faced the Master Jury when the awards exceeded all expectations and grew to 307 entries from 32 countries in Africa – more than double the size of what was initially envisaged.

The Exchange Consulate: Trading Passports for Hyper-Performative Economic Enclaves, South Africa by Ogundare Olawale Israel:
The Exchange Consulate: Trading Passports for Hyper-Performative Economic Enclaves, South Africa

Nigerian student Ogundare Olawale Israel:
Nigerian student Ogundare Olawale Israel

The initial shortlist of 21 projects was chosen by the Master Jury and announced earlier in 2017. Chaired by Dr Mark Olweny, the jury comprised leading African architects and academics including: Anna Abengowe (Nigeria), Guillaume Koffi (Ivory Coast), Professor Edgar Pieterse (South Africa), Patti Anahory (Cape Verde), Tanzeem Razak (South Africa), and Phill Mashabane (South Africa).

The Master Jury then reconvened for two days prior to the awards ceremony to evaluate the 21 shortlisted projects and decide on the most deserving entries across four categories.

Through the Master Jury’s dedication and considered response to an unprecedented challenge, the final category winners – each of whom received a specially designed bronze trophy – were decided as follows:

• Critical Dialogue: Forum de Arquitectura – by CEICA, Angola

• Speculative: The Territory In-between, Cape Verde – by Guinea’s Aissata Balde, Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg:

The Territory In-between, Cape Verde

• Emerging Voices: The Exchange Consulate: Trading Passports for Hyper-Performative Economic Enclaves, South Africa – by Nigerian student Ogundare Olawale Israel of the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg
Film on YouTube

• Built: Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa – by Choromanski Architects, South Africa

The Grand Prix was awarded to the project that best describes the ultimate objective of the Africa Architecture Awards, which is to inspire the future of African architecture. The Grand Prix winner received both a bespoke trophy and the cash prize of USD$10 000.

Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa by Choromanski Architects was named the overall winner.

Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa building by Choromanski Architects:
Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa building by Choromanski Architects

In addition to the projects highlighted by the Master Jury, the awards programme ran a public participation component earlier in 2017, where members of the public could vote for their favourite project. The People’s Choice Award had over a million viewers and votes across a range of projects stretching from kiosks to urban regeneration schemes.

The winning project received a Certificate of Excellence at the ceremony and this went to James Cubitt Architects Lagos for the speculative project titled Bank Head Office in Lagos, Nigeria.

Commenting on the outcome of the first iteration of the awards, the MD of Saint-Gobain Retail Division, Evan Lockhart-Barker states: “Although this is only the first edition of the Africa Architecture Awards, we believe we have captured an incredible moment in time for Pan-African architecture. Having launched the first-ever awards of its kind, we’ve seen the incredible response from architects working across the continent. The values and aspirations displayed in the awards have led to incredible insights about the continent and its shape-shifting ways.”

“Yet we still have a way to go to write our own story about architecture and its role here. Africa is indeed rising but due to the continent’s resourcefulness and complex regional identities, we’ve already learnt that our awards programme requires even more diversity to capture Africa and all its spectrums. We look to future editions of the awards to achieve this.”

The Territory In-between, Cape Verde
The Territory In-between, Cape Verde

The Territory In-between, Cape Verde

The Territory In-between, Cape Verde

The Territory In-between, Cape Verde

Following the awards ceremony on the Thursday evening, a thought-provoking public colloquium titled ‘Celebrating Architecture in Africa’ was held on Friday, 29 September 2017 at the University of Cape Town. With a speaker line-up of 21 specialists from across the world, the free event, which was also supported by Saint-Gobain, provided a platform to discuss the awards in more detail and explore architecture within the African context.

Providing access to information about architecture in Africa and ensuring that this knowledge is shared widely and freely to the continent is a primary and ongoing aim of the awards. This is evidenced in events such as the colloquium, as well as publications such as the Africa Architecture Awards’ digital portal (www.AfricaArchitectureAwards.com), Documenting all 307 projects entered into the awards via video, images and text, this digital asset now stands as one of the most vibrant and extensive repositories of contemporary African architecture to date.

Described as the “4th Revolution” in Africa, digital channels and technology shift paradigms daily on the continent. From the outset, awards founder Saint-Gobain has embraced the role of digital media to promote architectural practice and dialogue to broader audiences than traditionally enjoyed by institutional award structures.

Africa Architecture Awards 2017 Winners information received 280917

31 Jul 2017

Africa Architecture Awards 2017

Inaugural Africa Architecture Awards

The inaugural Africa Architecture Awards announces 20 shortlisted projects out of an unprecedented 307 entered projects situated in 32 African countries

The architects of each of the 20 shortlisted projects will be flown to Cape Town by Saint-Gobain to attend the awards ceremony, which will be held on 28 September 2017

Dakar Conference Centre building:
Dakar Conference Centre building Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 30, 2017 – The inaugural Africa Architecture Awards (www.AfricaArchitectureAwards.com), founded by Saint-Gobain (www.Saint-Gobain-Africa.com), attracted an unprecedented number of entries for an architecture awards programme in its first edition. More than 500 projects registered to enter the awards before the closing date of 14 July 2017, and a total of 307 projects from across the continent, situated in 32 African countries, completed the registration process and qualified to enter.

Africa Architecture Awards trophy:
Africa Architecture Awards trophy

All 307 projects have since been published on www.AfricaArchitectureAwards.com, with the awards website now acting as a repository of thought-provoking projects spanning the African continent. As a yardstick to gauge the depth and breadth of contemporary African architectural practice, the site alone is an invaluable resource, visited by over 40 000 unique users from mid-May to end-July 2017, with 800-1000 unique visitors accessing the site per day.

Architecture of Crisis – Windhoek Communal Borehole Wells:
Architecture of Crisis - Windhoek Communal Borehole Wells

Thus far, over 450 African broadcast, print and digital publications have given published attention to the awards. More than 100 000 people have participated in the public voting component of the Africa Architecture Awards People’s Choice award. Only one vote per person per day is permitted and voting closes on 18 August 2017.

Kigali Genocide Memorial building:
Kigali Genocide Memorial building Africa

Although still in its infancy, this ambitious awards programme has already become one of the most successful architecture awards programmes on the continent – and it hasn’t yet announced its winners. It is also the only one of its kind due to its Pan-African scope; it being the first to invite entries from across Africa, for any project that pertains to Africa, regardless of where the architectural firm is located.

New Eye Sight Hospital building:
New Eye Sight Hospital building

“The Africa Architecture Awards,” explains Evan Lockhart-Barker, the Managing Director of the Saint-Gobain Retail Business Development Initiative, “have been established to highlight the continent’s innovative and collaborative style of solving problems – architectural or otherwise. Saint-Gobain has engaged with some of the best minds in the field to establish this programme, so that the awards are relevant, contextual and progressive. We are more than thrilled to see the response that the competition has received to date.”

One Airport Square Africa architecture:
One Airport Square Africa architecture

On 27 July 2017, the awards announced a shortlist of 20 projects, which now stand in line for a trophy in either the Built, Speculative, Emerging Voices or Critical Dialogue category; or, the overall Grand Prix award of USD$10 000. There were 139 entries in the Built category, 91 entries in the Speculative category, 44 entries in the Emerging Voices category and 34 entries in the Critical Dialogue category.

Out of the box partnerships Africa architecture:
Out of the box partnerships Africa architecture awards

The shortlist was chosen by a Master Jury comprising a Pan-African panel of architects and industry experts, including: Anna Abengowe (Nigeria), Guillaume Koffi (Côte d’Ivoire), Professor Edgar Pieterse (South Africa), Patti Anahory (Cape Verde), Professor Mark Olweny (Uganda), Tanzeem Razak (South Africa), and Phill Mashabane (South Africa).

Re-think Makoko Africa architecture:
Re-think Makoko Africa architecture

The 20 shortlisted projects are as follows:

Built
• One Airport Square, Ghana – by MCA Architects
• Thread: Artists’ Residency and Cultural Centre, Senegal – by Toshiko Mori Architect
• Dakar Conference Centre, Senegal – by Tabanlioglu Architects
• Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa – by Choromanski Architects
• Out of the Box Partnerships, Ethiopia – by Parallel Solutions

Speculative
• Ecree, Ecowski Centre for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency, Cape Verde – by Fernando Mauricio Dos Santos
• New Eye Sight Hospital, Republic of Congo – by Boogertman + Partners
• Kigali Genocide Memorial, Rwanda – by Mass Design Group
• The Territory Inbetween, South Africa – by Aissata Balde
• Beyond Entropy, Angola – by Paula Nascimento

Emerging Voices
• The Embassy of Mantanhas – Eclectic Atlases, Cape Verde – by Stephanie Ryder, Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg
• Architecture of Crisis: Windhoek Community Boreholes – by Elao Martin, Namibia University of Science and Technology
• Re-think Makoko, Lagos – by Mohamed Waheed Fareed Abdelfatah, Helwan University, Egypt
• The Monolith of Kasolo, Democratic Republic of the Congo – by Federico Fauli, Architectural Association, School of Architecture, London
• The Exchange Consulate: Trading Passports for Hyper-Performative Economic Enclaves, South Africa – by Ogundare Olawale Israel

Critical Dialogue
• Design Indaba, South Africa – by Interactive Africa
• APSAIDAL – by Ebano Wey Ekame Ikuga, Spain
• Forum de Arquitectura – by Ceica, Angola
• The Journey of Design and Critical Dialogue. Securing the Presence of Urban Livelihoods – by Richard Dobson, South Africa
• Revolution Room – by Visual Arts Network, South Africa & Waza Arts Centre, Democratic Republic of Congo

The Monolith of Khasulo:
The Monolith of Khasulo in Africa

The trophy winners in each of the four entry categories, and the overall grand prize, will be announced at a gala awards ceremony to be held at the newly opened Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town. The architects of each of the 20 shortlisted projects will be flown to Cape Town by Saint-Gobain to attend the awards ceremony, which will be held on 28 September 2017.

THREAD – Artists Residency:
THREAD - Artists Residency

Following the awards ceremony, a public colloquium titled Celebrating Architecture in Africa will be held to discuss the winning projects and explain why they were chosen. This event will take place on 29 September 2017 at the Institute for Creative Arts at UCT Hiddingh Campus in Cape Town from 09h00. Participants include members of the Steering Panel and Master Jury for the Africa Architecture Awards. Admission is free.

Please email [email protected] for queries or visit www.AfricaArchitectureAwards.com for more information.

Umkhumbane Museum building:
Umkhumbane Museum Africa architecture

About Saint-Gobain:
The founder of the Africa Architecture Awards, Saint-Gobain, is proud to be bringing an awards programme with criteria that are in line with its DNA. For 350 years, the Group has consistently pushed the boundaries of technology and solutions in the construction markets. In sub-Saharan Africa, Saint-Gobain provides a range of solutions and services tailored to local demand. The Group aims to drive local development through the services and solutions it delivers to improve living comfort for the greatest possible number of people. It aims to achieve this by forming industrial partnerships, creating local employment, providing professional training and taking action to support the development of local communities.
For more information on Saint-Gobain visit www.Saint-Gobain-Africa.com.

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Africa Architecture Awards 2017 information received 300717

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