![Kamwokya Community Center / Kéré Architecture - Exterior Photography, Community Center, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/6361/42db/8f6d/203f/6af2/4a90/newsletter/kamwokya-community-center-kere-architecture_8.jpg?1667318602)
-
Architects: Kéré Architecture
- Area: 1600 m²
- Year: 2022
Doreen Adengo, Ugandan architect and trailblazer, passed away on July the 22nd of this year, after battling a long-term illness. She founded Adengo Architecture, a studio based out of her home city of Kampala. A designer who studied in the United States, worked in firms in New York, Washington, and London, and was teaching at Uganda Martyrs University – her legacy is nothing short of extraordinary. It is a legacy that spans disciplines and geographies – but a legacy, too, that is deeply rooted in the context of Africa, Uganda, and Kampala.
Cities are growing, and they are growing upwards. This is far from just being a contemporary phenomenon of course – for more than a century, high-rises have been an integral part of urban settlements worldwide. This growing of cities encompasses a complex web of processes – advancements in transport links, urbanisation, and migration to mention a few. This growth of cities, however, is all too often linked with governmental failure to adequately support all facets of the urban population. Informal settlements are then born – people carving out spaces for themselves to live amidst a lack of state support.
David Adjaye has been selected to design what will be the centerpiece of the largest redevelopment project in Africa’s history. The British architect, who spent his childhood growing up in Uganda, recently presented the vision alongside designer and Made in Africa Foundation co-founder Ozwald Boateng Obe and CEO Chris Cleverly.
The 65-hectare vision, which is aimed to redevelop the Naguru and Nakawa areas of Uganda's capital city, will include everything needed for a functioning, vibrant micro-city: affordable homes, educational facilities, office space, shopping and entertainment centers, and more. Adjaye’s contribution will be a massive office complex made up of 10, conoidal towers that form a circular, public plaza at its center.