Bukka

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Musgum earth home, Cameroon

Half of the world's population, approximately three billion people on six continents live or work in buildings constructed of earth.
The Musgum, an ethnic group in the far north of Africa's Cameroon, create their tall conical dwellings from compressed sun dried mud.
Called Cases Obos, the profile of the structure is that of a catenary arch, the ideal form to bear a maximum weight with minimum material.
The clever relief pattern on the surface is a built-in scaffolding that can support the human body to allow for maintenance of the structure by the re-application of more mud to the surface.

Reminder: Our talk 'Exhibiting Africa' takes place @ Goethe Institut 7pm today (4 Nov). [email protected]

NLÉ - Metropolis Magazine - October 2014 News, Information and Reviews for the design community

Afripedia is a new 5-part documentary series on the work of creatives in Angola, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal & Ghana (Pictured here: Serge Attukwei Clottey. Photo by Stocktown Films)

http://bit.ly/afripedia

Today is the World Cities Day – here are some things you could do to celebrate the day:

Follow the World Cities Day Challenge Live on:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/live/2014/oct/31/2014-guardian-world-cities-day-challenge-live

Read one of the 23 Unmissable Articles on Cities and Urbanism selected by ArchiDaily

http://www.archdaily.com/563217/archdaily-celebrates-world-cities-day-23-unmissable-articles-on-cities-and-urbanism/

Go to the closing lecture of the Cities Methodologies organised by UCL Urban Laboratory:

'The New Provinces: a writer's changing relationship to the ordinary in the time of globalisation’ by Amit Chaudhuri.

Start: Oct 31, 2014 6:00:00 PM
End: Oct 31, 2014 8:00:00 PM
Location: Wilkins Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/urbanlab/events/cities-imaginaries-inaugural-lecture-amit-chaurduri

Watch a film or documentary on cities:

Short Animation by Factory Fifteen on the changing Stone Town in Zanzibar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU5Gd6Kv25U

BBC's Welcome to Lagos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdAMXM0m8aU&list=PLDB69A6CE5711024A

“Case Study (CS) 3: Primary School Tanouan Ibi, Mali”

Primary School Tanouan Ibi by LEVS ARCHITECTEN from Netherlands stands in the Dogon country in Mali. The design marries local architectural traditions with modern technology. The school is a sustainable building made out of Hydraulic Compressed Earth Blocks (HCEB) and constructed in collaboration with the local, newly trained masons.

Read more about the building:

http://www.archdaily.com/560814/primary-school-tanouan-ibi-levs-architecten/

To read about other projects by LEVS ARCHITECTEN in Mali:

http://www.levs.nl/show/project/en/2900/gangouroubouro_%7C_mali

‘Perils of Walking in Lagos’

What happens when the city is more concerned with keeping up its appearance rather than improving the pedestrians’ network?

Read the article on:

http://futurecapetown.com/2014/10/the-lagos-tour-how-easy-is-it-to-walk-around-lagos/ #.VFNxdPnF_IZ

‘Africa Junctions. Capturing the City - a new publication on African cities’

The African city is a site of permanent change where the informal spaces mix with formal structures and the public and private spheres blend. The vibrant urban spaces of African cities are captured by photographer Lard Buurman and presented in the book alongside a number of essays reflecting on the African city and Buurman’s photography.

To read more about the book follow the link:
http://www.hatjecantz.de/lard-buurman-5949-1.html

Weekly round-up of architectural projects from across Africa by
archiDatum:

http://www.archidatum.com/architecture-in-africa-weekly-round-up-13/

[Architecture in Africa / Weekly Round Up] 13 Construction is underway on the iconic 31-storey Britam Tower in Upper Hill, Nairobi’s financial hub, as the flagship project of…

'October 31 the first ever World Cities Day'

The coming Friday has been nominated by UN Habitat as the first ever World Cities Day. In relation to this event the Guardian is partnering with UN Habitat for the Cities Day Challenge. Representatives of 36 cities around the world will present their best city ideas before a panel of judges. The selected winner will be featured in an in-depth article in the Guardian.

To read more about the World Cities Day and the Challenge follow the link:

http://unhabitat.org/wcd/

http://www.archdaily.com/

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/27/the-2014-world-cities-day-challenge-whats-your-favourite-city-idea

‘Nai Ni Who? Who a Nairobian really is?’

Nai Ni Who is a two-month long festival that took place in Nairobi earlier this year during July and August. Through a number of cultural activities and workshops the festival sought to engage Nairobians in a public debate on identity.

For the purpose of the festival the city was broken down into 12 neighbourhood zones that were approached at a community level and invited to take part.

To read more about the festival and to get some insight into the history of the participating neighbourhood zones follow the link:

http://nainiwho.co.ke/

‘Future plans for Nairobi as a Global City favour the elite’

An interview with Gareth Myers in which he critically examines future plans for Nairobi which prioritize a vision of a city dedicated mostly to enterprises and international businessmen meanwhile neglecting the poverty and lack of service delivery in Kenya’s capital.

Read the interview on:

http://www.urbanafrica.net/urban-voices/future-nairobi-plans-favour-elite/

Future Nairobi? Plans favour the elite - Urban Africa Plans for Nairobi in 2030 favour elite interests.