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In 2022, Diébédo Francis Kéré made historical past as the primary African architect to win the Pritzker Prize, which lauded the affect of his upbringing and experiences in Gando, Burkina Faso, on his structure. The next yr, in 2023, Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko curated the principle exhibition for the Biennale Architettura 2023 underneath the banner of The Laboratory of the Future, the place over half of the 89 individuals have been from Africa or the African Diaspora.
But, whereas these are notable strides towards together with knowledge from the African continent in international architectural discourse, such makes an attempt have nonetheless operated by way of Western establishments. “The Western world loves African Structure, writes Somali-Italian architect Omar Degan, “so long as it’s a Safari lodge.” The purpose he makes is that the difficulty has by no means been restricted to underrepresentation; it’s additionally been perpetuated by how illustration (few and much between) is framed and who controls the narrative. Nonetheless, the winds of change are blowing, and Degan can be on the heart of this recentering: he has lately been named because the inaugural curator for the first-ever Pan-African Biennale of Structure.
Set to happen in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2026, the occasion represents an unprecedented alternative to reclaim Africa’s architectural narrative. Not solely does it provide a venue for African architects, designers, city planners and policymakers to carry a vital dialogue on the shared responses to local weather change, speedy urbanization and financial transformation on the continent, however so too will it provide an area for Africa to re-center itself within the international architectural discourse — not as a peripheral observer or passive recipient, however as a generative drive behind the sustainable and culturally grounded practices that the remainder of the globe requires if it desires to confront the existential crises of the twenty first century and past.
How can we design by way of fragility?
Archival picture of view of Nairobi | Picture courtesy of Architectural Affiliation of Kenya (AAK)
Degan’s curatorial imaginative and prescient hinges on the idea of fragility, “not as a passive state of vulnerability,” he explains, “however as a spatial and historic situation formed by colonization, displacement, financial extraction and environmental precarity.”
The adept curatorial transfer reframes fragility, turning conventional associations on their head to point out the ingenuity of cultures which have persevered underneath such circumstances, typically by way of adaptive vernacular practices, creating important types of city life and group all over the place from casual settlements to postcolonial capitals.
“Structure in Africa has lengthy been formed by oral histories, communal labor, and a perception that sees no separation between shelter and ecology, construction and spirit,” says Degan. “On this sense, the very fragility that defines many African contexts at this time — whether or not materials, social, or historic — accommodates inside it the ideas the world now urgently seeks: sustainability, mutuality, and resilience. What this second calls for just isn’t emergence, however return — a return to the middle, on Africa’s phrases.”
Removed from a deficit, Africa’s fragility has been a crucible for adaptation, improvisation, and reinvention. It has generated new spatial languages born not of extra, however of necessity. As Degan makes clear, Africa just isn’t ready to be included sooner or later — it’s actively constructing it, from the bottom up.
Past Geographic Centrality: Why Kenya
Archival picture of view of Nairobi | Picture courtesy of Architectural Affiliation of Kenya (AAK)
On the coronary heart of the continent, Nairobi affords greater than geographic centrality; it embodies a convergence of histories, cultures and aspirations that make it a becoming dwelling for the biennale. Kenya’s capital has lengthy been a stage for continental solidarity and self-determination. A political ally to liberation actions throughout Africa and a diplomatic engine for East African cooperation, Nairobi helped form the post-independence narrative of African modernity.
To host the biennale right here is to affirm that legacy, and to ask a brand new era to reimagine structure as an instrument of cultural affirmation and spatial justice. Nairobi just isn’t solely a vibrant metropolis; it’s a residing archive of the very tensions the biennale seeks to discover: informality and ritual, colonial imposition and indigenous ingenuity, hypothesis and survival. These contradictions should not peripheral; they’re central to the African city situation.
The Kenyatta Worldwide Convention Centre (KICC) will function the biennale’s architectural anchor. Inaugurated in 1973 and designed by Norwegian architect Karl Henrik Nøstvik in collaboration with David Mutiso, considered one of Kenya’s first African architects, the KICC stands as a robust image of post-independence ambition. Its terraced podium and cylindrical tower reference each worldwide modernism and vernacular structure, signaling a want to forge a distinctly African modernity. To activate this constructing in 2026 is to reclaim it not as a static monument, however as a platform for renewed cultural manufacturing — one rooted in reminiscence, resistance and reinvention.
Centering Africa
Present view of Nairobi | Picture courtesy of Architectural Affiliation of Kenya (AAK)
Greater than an exhibition, the Pan-African Biennale of Structure is a declaration that Africa just isn’t a case research, however a catalyst. With participation from each African nation, the Biennale will elevate homegrown options to international challenges, from local weather adaptation and housing fairness to useful resource stewardship and concrete innovation. This gained’t be simply one other exhibition; it’s a continent-wide dialog.
Every nation can be invited to current its personal architectural narratives, by way of exhibitions, discussions and installations that span rural vernacular traditions, hybrid typologies and high-tech city interventions. The occasion will have a good time the continent’s multiplicity as artistic drive. Voices from the African diaspora and worldwide contributors will be a part of the dialogue — to not lead it, however to hear, be taught, and collaborate. Participation will come by way of curated invites and open calls, with a give attention to daring concepts, community-driven work, and tasks that aren’t afraid to problem the established order.
By putting African values, supplies, labor and communities on the core of architectural discourse, the Biennale seeks to dismantle the idea that progress have to be measured by Western requirements. As a substitute, it is going to highlight fashions of design rooted in reciprocity, resilience and cultural continuity — all values which might be important to confronting the polycrisis of our age.
This isn’t merely about redressing a historic imbalance; it’s about redefining the phrases of engagement altogether. As Degan places it, this second requires a return: a return to heart, led by African voices, on African soil. And in 2026, the world can be invited to hear.
The Pan-African Structure Biennale will open on September 1, 2026. Keep tuned for extra info within the coming months.
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Prime picture: Present view of Nairobi | Picture courtesy of Architectural Affiliation of Kenya (AAK)
