Tag: decolonial | ArchDaily

Ecologies of Repair: Reconciling Our Relationship with Water

Mohieldin Gamal — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Ola Hassanain is a Sudanese architect and artist operating in the Netherlands, and will be exhibiting at the Pan-African Architecture Biennale in Nairobi, Kenya, later in 2026. All three locations tell stories of the built environment's relationship with water. These illustrate the continuous battles between the amorphous forces of nature that are the rivers and seas, and human attempts to shape and control them. In most cases, they are attempts at extraction. Catastrophes happen as a result of the overreach of these attempts or of their mismanagement, or both.

Choreographing Lagos: Dele Adeyemo on Dance, Cosmology, and Spatial Practices

Romullo Baratto — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Having thrown a stone today, Eshu kills a bird of yesterday. The Yoruba proverb tells both a story of reparation and of ancestrality by joyfully bending spacetime conventions and accessing subjects from the past with present actions. The saying offers a poetic entry point to broader West African traditions and to the practice of Scottish-Nigerian artist and architect Dele Adeyemo. Named one of the winners of the ArchDaily 2025 Next Practices Awards, Adeyemo's work brings together ecology, spirituality, dance, and territory, examining how embodied cultural practices can generate alternative spatial possibilities within and against the architecture of racial capitalism.

Reclaiming the Narrative: A New Generation of Museums in West Africa

Mohieldin Gamal — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

As countries in Africa emerged from colonialism in the mid-twentieth century, many expressed their independent identities through architecture. This process continues several decades later, exemplified by several new museums in West Africa, recently completed or in planning. Although varying in purpose and form, they have some common goals: addressing the need for restitution of many artifacts taken during colonialism and mostly kept in European museums; and defining a museum with local identity as opposed to a non-contextual import.

Sumayya Vally Renovates Heritage Building in Central London as New Arts and Cultural Center

Antonia Piñeiro — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 05:30:00 +0000

October will see the opening of Ibraaz, a new cultural space reimagined by Architect-in-Residence Sumayya Vally in central London. The initiative is led by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation and aims to highlight art, culture, and ideas from the Global Majority: communities of African, Asian, Indigenous, and Latin American heritage that together represent most of the world's population. The project seeks to bridge local and global conversations by creating a "world of many worlds" within a single venue: a six-floor, 10,000-square-foot building that has undergone multiple transformations, from synagogue to residence, club, and now cultural center.

The Transposed Monument: Murray House and the Paradox of Preservation

Jonathan Yeung — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 07:30:00 +0000

In preserving architecture, there are many possible approaches—ranging from treating a building as a static monument, meticulously restoring it in situ to the point of limiting public access, to more adaptive strategies that reprogram and modify interior spaces while retaining key architectural elements such as materiality and structural form. Yet one method stands apart, both in ambition and in controversy: to deliberately dismantle a building—brick by brick—meticulously label and document each part, and store it until a new site, purpose, or narrative emerges. Then, to reassemble it anew, possibly for an entirely different use. Though the original context is lost, this strategy aims to preserve cultural significance through transformation rather than stasis. This is the story of Murray House in Stanley, Hong Kong.

From Fragility to Resilience: Curating the Inaugural Pan-African Architecture Biennale

Mohieldin Gamal — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 03:00:00 +0000

A Pan-African Biennale of Architecture is planned for 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya. According to the curator, it "represents an unprecedented opportunity to reclaim Africa's architectural narrative, reasserting the continent's role as a global leader in urban resilience, sustainability, and cultural expression."

Architecture and Coloniality: Brazilian Modernism in Critical Perspective

Camilla Ghisleni — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Brazilian modern architecture is often celebrated as a landmark of innovation and national identity, projecting the country onto the international stage with iconic works and a distinctive aesthetic. However, recent research and publications have highlighted its deep entanglement with colonial narratives, both in its influences and its social impact. Although modernism emerged as an attempt to break away from European academic traditions, it remained dependent on foreign references and incorporated strategies of domination that echoed colonial logic.

The Decolonization of Architecture Is a Necessary Step in Its Decarbonization

Camilla Ghisleni — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Imagination and policy development go hand in hand. Before we can create policies that bring about a desirable future, we must first envision what that future looks like, which is particularly significant in Architecture because we see the future as an integral part of the design process. This familiarity with envisioning the future carries a responsibility for us to create guidelines and regulations that can either support or obstruct the direction our planet takes.

“Earth as Ancestral and Future Technology”: An Interview With Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares, Curators of the Brazil Pavilion and Winners of the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice Biennale

Romullo Baratto e Victor Delaqua — Tue, 23 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Questioning the canonical history of architecture and shedding light on long-invisible spatial practices, Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares propose the exhibition “Terra” [Earth], at the Brazilian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. "It's our way of shaking things up," say the curators, who turn their attention to ancestral ways of dealing with the land, aiming for more fair and complete possibilities for the present and future.

Brazil Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale Reveals Details About the Exhibition “Terra”

ArchDaily Team — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 05:00:00 +0000

The São Paulo Biennial Foundation has just announced details of the Terra project that will occupy the Brazil Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. With a curatorial effort by Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares, the Brazilian exhibition will feature a diverse group of collaborators, comprising Mbya-Guarani indigenous peoples, Tukano, Arawak and Maku indigenous peoples, weavers from Alaká (Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá), Iyá Nassô Oká (Casa Branca do Engenho Velho), Ana Flávia Magalhães Pinto, Ayrson Heráclito, Day Rodrigues with collaboration from Vilma Patrícia Santana Silva (Etnicidades Group FAU-UFBA), Fissura Collective, Juliana Vicente, Thierry Oussou, and Vídeo nas Aldeias.

Status, Statues, and Statutes: The Issue With Monuments to Flawed Men

Mark Alan Hewitt — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 03:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Common Edge.