Can you plan do-it-yourself culture? How do you design a street with the entire neighbourhood? And how do you renew a city without losing the old one? Discover how to make a city together at ‘It happens here.’. ’It happens here.’ is a 30-day long manifestation that celebrates initiative, experiment and interaction in urban planning. With an exhibition and a diverse programme in the monumental Amstelkerk in Amsterdam. Discover how citizens, pioneers, countercultures, architects and city planners are making the new city together. By giving space to self-building and unplanned renewal and by recognising the value of what is originally there, inhabitants remain owners of ‘their’ city. ’It happens here.’ is an initiative of Stadsherstel Amsterdam, African Architecture Matters, Space&Matter, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the City of Amsterdam. The space between the beaten tracks is where it happens. Come by and wander through the stories of the collective city. An important part of the exhibition includes the presentation of the Ng’ambo Atlas, that has been developed by the Government of Zanzibar and AAmatters, and presents the results of the collaboration between Zanzibar, Amsterdam, UNESCO and AAmatters. The Ng’ambo Atlas exhibition was also presented in collaboration with the City of Amsterdam at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism in 2019. In the context of the exhibition, debates and workshops are organised. Welcome to the Amstelkerk from October 29th to November 21th. Specially interested? Join us on the 19th November for a special viewing with the curators and makers of the exhibition! It happens here. October 29th to November 21th Amstelkerk Amsterdam Opening hours exhibition: Monday to Friday 09:00 - 17:00 Sunday 21st November 13:00 -17:00 Free admission For reservations and programme updates, please send an email to: hiergebeurthet@stadsherstel.nl More information here

Coming Wednesday, Localworks is hosting another of its special online sessions: Localtalks. This time the topic is based on preserving architectural heritage in East Africa. The event discussion will be preceded and guided by two presentations. The first presentation will explore specific examples of architectural heritage in Kampala, Uganda. It will be led by Timothy Latim, an independent photographer and designer who has experience documenting Ugandan heritage buildings. He will share his observations and findings about selected buildings and the roles they have played in society. Following this, the focus will shift to the practicalities behind preserving architectural heritage across East Africa. This angle is to be presented by our own Iga Perzyna and Berend van der Lans. They will share some challenges behind preserving heritage before unpacking potential tools and strategies for implementing preservation in the East African context. Some of the questions that will be brought to the discussion table are: How can you protect a building that is threatened by developments when people are unaware of its historical importance? What type of decision making and management is needed to protect the integrity and cultural significance of existing buildings in the future? How do you prevent an old building from becoming redundant or a financial burden? You can register for the event following this link And click here to find more information on Localtalks and their mission.

A recap of the week-long international workshop in Kampala in 2020 during which the team started to work on the project. In the words of the custodians of the museum and experts working on the project the video explains the importance of the CMP as a strategy guiding the future developments of the building. Quite a feat! The work on the video was supervised by Adengo Architecture, credits for the production go to: Uganda National Museum with support from the Getty Foundation.

2022 is the year of the «Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne», a major cultural event where designers, researchers, intellectuals and art lovers from all over the world come together to question and discuss the practice of design and experiment with its various methods. The 12th edition of the biennale will be running from the 6th of April to 31st of July under theme of "Bifurcations". Bifurcating means to abandon one direction in order to explore another one. Our lives are a series of bifurcations and through this theme, the biennale wants to highlight innovative, inspiring, creative, collective or individual practices that are developed when the unexpected enters our lives and challenges our habits and living environment. According Olivier Peyricot, the scientific director of the Bienniale, “with 7 exhibitions and more than 150 events, the Biennial invites a collective reflection on the capacity of design to accompany these changes. Whether it is a critical and forward-looking tool, an inventive method or a cultural phenomenon, design is being debated in Saint-Étienne.” And guess what? Africa – a continent at the heart of the contemporary ecological and political issues - is the guest of honour of this year’s edition. Inspiring practices from the continent will be the focus of one of the seven exhibitions featuring in the biennale. For us, this event offers the possibility to highlight one of the strategic tools we use in participatory urban planning: the "Design your own house" game board. This object has become an effective way to collect information in a playful way and to overcome language and/or cultural barriers. Visitors will also have the chance to have a closer look at our latest publication “Ng’ambo Atlas, Historic Urban Landscape of Zanzibar Town’s ‘Other Side’”. For more information see the website: https://biennale-design.com/saint-etienne/2022/

25 years ago, the conference and landmark publication ‘Africa and the Disciplines’ reflected upon Africa’s position in relation to selected academic disciplines, questioning its apparent marginal position within them and highlighting continent’s contribution to the emergence of new subjects and ideas in the respective fields. The Centre for African Studies of the University of Basel decided the time was ripe to look at the matter again to find out what new insights have emerged in the fields since the seminal conference. This will be done during a two day long conference including four, interactive and interdisciplinary, plenary sessions with ‘paired conversations’ between two scholars from a particular discipline. We are honoured to take part in the event through Berend van der Lans’ contribution to the conversation on Urban Studies. Please find more information on the event and registration in the Programme. #Event #Conference #Interdisciplinary #UrbanStudies

Mahonda , currently a small agricultural village north of Zanzibar Town, is planned to grow into a regional centre catering for a population of around 20,000 souls in 2035, according to the National Spatial Development Strategy developed by the Zanzibar Department of Urban and Rural Planning (DoURP) in 2015. As one of the many new urban developments initiated on the Unguja Island, Mahonda was chosen as a case study for a workshop aiming to test the adaptive planning principles developed in the book To Build a City in Africa: A History and a Manual (Nai010, 2019). This gave Rachel Keeton, the co-author of the book and a PhD researcher at the Delft University of Technology the chance to put theory in practice, so to say. The workshop took place from 21 – 27 September 2019. Its programme was developed by the DoURP in collaboration with Play the City and AAmatters. Play the City (a global practice that supports public and private parties on large scale development projects through city gaming) was responsible for the participatory process while AAmatters brought in its know-how on the development of planning documents in Zanzibar and provided context insights. The ‘Play Mahonda’ session counting 48 participants from the village, intensively ‘playing Mahonda’ under the stimulating guidance of Cristina Ampatzidou, was the highlight of the weeklong work. ‘Play Mahonda’ was followed by design sessions with the DoURP team, combined with expert presentations by Priscila Izar (Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam) on ‘Exploring Urbanisation from the Ground: the Experiences from Dar es Salaam’, Simone Rots (INTI) on ‘Sites and Services approaches’, Anteneh Tola (TU Delft) on ‘New Towns in Rural Areas with BuraNEST (Ethiopia) as example’ and Igor Pessoa (TU Delft) on ‘Participatory Planning Processes’. Although the course of events as well as the outcomes of the workshop brought a lot of surprises, much could be learned about the participatory planning process forming its backbone and Mahonda as a settlement. The workshop also brought to light residents’ interesting visions for the future of their village. Certainly an inspiring starting point for the impending development of the Local Area Plan for Mahonda. The events were made possible with the support of EFL Foundation, Delft Global Initiative and the DoURP. #Workshop #Planning #UrbanPlanning #Participatory #UrbanDevelopment #Zanzibar

Can you plan do-it-yourself culture? How do you design a street with the entire neighbourhood? And how do you renew a city without losing the old one? Discover how to make a city together at ‘It happens here.’. ’It happens here.’ is a 30-day long manifestation that celebrates initiative, experiment and interaction in urban planning. With an exhibition and a diverse programme in the monumental Amstelkerk in Amsterdam. Discover how citizens, pioneers, countercultures, architects and city planners are making the new city together. By giving space to self-building and unplanned renewal and by recognising the value of what is originally there, inhabitants remain owners of ‘their’ city. Part of the exhibition was presented last year in South Korea at The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, now having its premiere in the Netherlands. For the occasion, the theme 'Free space' has been added. Next to the exhibition there is a topical programme on three Thursday nights - with speakers, interventions and workshops. The Ng’ambo Atlas presentation showcases Ng’ambo’s rich cultural landscape, revealed through story-telling, community mapping and historical research, undertaken as part of the development of the Local Area Plan for Ng’ambo. The Plan guides the area’s transformation into the new city centre of Zanzibar Town and was developed by the Government of Zanzibar, the City of Amsterdam and African Architecture Matters. ’It happens here.’ is an initiative of Stadsherstel Amsterdam, African Architecture Matters, Space&Matter, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the City of Amsterdam. The space between the beaten tracks is where it happens. Come by and wander through the stories of the collective city. We happily welcome you in the Amstelkerk from October 19th to November 15th. It happens here. October 19th to November 15th Amstelkerk Amsterdam Opening hours exhibition: Monday to Saturday 12:00 - 17:00 Free admission For reservations and programme updates, please send an email to: hiergebeurthet@stadsherstel.nl #exhibition #Culture #IntangibleHeritage #Zanzibar #Amsterdam #diy #Participatory #UrbanPlanning #Placemaking #HistoricUrbanLandscape

In March this year Rwanda Arts Initiative (RAI) in collaboration with BOZAR (B) and AAmatters organised the International Forum on Cultural Spaces in Kigali, Rwanda. The forum brought together local cultural, public and private sectors as well as international experts and representatives from cultural spaces in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, DRC and more, to discuss an action plan to improve the cultural infrastructure in Kigali and Rwanda, at large. In connection with the forum and for further inspiration, an international student workshop was organised to develop adaptive reuse proposals for the Kigali Central Prison and the Ecole Belge. Both sites have recently been abandoned and are in perfect locations for multi-purpose cultural spaces. Students from the University of Rwanda, Uganda Martyrs University and the University of Cape Town worked day and night to feed the discussions with their bright ideas. As a follow up to the forum RAI is currently working together with AAmatters and Laura Nsengiyumva on the mapping of cultural spaces in Kigali. A publication on the event and mapping will be available in 2020. The Innovation Village in Kigali compiled an insightful video on the event, which you can watch here. #Culture #Kigali #mapping #forum #culturalspaces #Event

Due to the latest Covid-19 related measures all activities in the Amstelkerk have been postponed until further notice. A tough, but necessary decision. Then again, city-making doesn’t stop here, and we’ll hopefully be able to share some exciting news with you soon. If you want to keep yourself updated, you can subscribe to our e-mail updates by sending an email to hiergebeurthet@stadsherstel.nl, or keep an eye on the website of Stadsherstel. And of course, AAmatters will also make sure to keep you informed! It happens here. Is an initiative of Stadsherstel Amsterdam, African Architecture Matters, Space&Matter, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the City of Amsterdam. #exhibition #Culture #IntangibleHeritage #Zanzibar #Amsterdam #diy #Participatory #UrbanPlanning #Placemaking #HistoricUrbanLandscape

In a new podcast series ‘It happens here’, initiators, experts and facilitators explore in conversation to what extent ‘places’ can change the city. The conversations touch upon ideals and disappointments, support systems and challenges, money and municipality. But mostly, they’re about the fact that things can be done differently: spontaneously, experimentally, and together. In the third episode Marie Morel (AAM), Jessica Dikmoet and Nadia Tillon (Imagine IC) discuss how stories can - or should- change urban development. From Amsterdam to Zanzibar, they have captured stories of residents that showed the relevance of buildings and spaces that - at first glance - might seem aesthetically irrelevant for a professional designer or planner. AAM captured the stories of residents of Ng'ambo that were translated into recommendations for the spatial plan and eventually into the Ng'ambo Atlas Imagine IC unraveled the meaning of an old parking garage for many residents in the South East of Amsterdam that convinced the city of Amsterdam to give residents a voice in the renewal plans. Although in very different locations, the contributors of this episode agree on the need for more diversity in - and equality of - perspectives on heritage. With these different perspectives integrated in urban plans for the future, residents will feel more engaged in the making of their neighborhoods and (re)gain a sense of ownership. The podcast series consists of five episodes and you can listen to all of them by following this link: https://hiergebeurthet.nl/ P.S Unfortunately only in Dutch. The podcast is a part of the postponed exhibition It happens here. #exhibition #Culture #IntangibleHeritage #Zanzibar #Amsterdam #diy #Participatory #UrbanPlanning #Placemaking #HistoricUrbanLandscape

On the 15th of February 2021 the Blueprint for Majestic Cinema project funded by Culture at Work Africa and co-funded by the European Union was officially concluded. The end of the project coincided with the official campaign launch of the Majestic Culture Hub initiative and marks an important turning point in the long-standing collaboration between Zanzibar’s leading cultural and social operators: Busara Promotions, (Re)claim Women Space, Zanzibar International Film Festival and Hifadhi Zanzibar Ltd. The overall aim of the project was to gain an in-depth understanding of the social, historical and cultural importance of the Majestic Cinema, create a brand for the culture hub and prepare draft documents that will guide the future restoration of the cinema building. AAmatters contributed to the historical research and the development of a tentative programme for the building and an operational strategy for its future use. The campaign to restore the Majestic Cinema and repurpose it as a culture hub was officially endorsed by the Hon. Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Madam Leila Muhamed Mussa on the 15th of February during the Majestic Culture Hub event and exhibition. With the support of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, Hifadhi Zanzibar Ltd. and the rest of the partners continue the work to ensure that this important part of Zanzibar’s heritage serves the community in the future. You can read more about the Majestic Culture Hub on its website and follow the initiative on the FB page. https://majestichub.co.tz/ & https://www.facebook.com/MajesticCultureHubZanzibar Culture at Work has also prepared an online catalogue showcasing the projects realised as a part of their grant where you can get a glimpse of the event and listen to a short audio on cinema in Stone Town prepared by the students from KAWA Training Centre in Zanzibar: https://www.cultureatworkafrica.art/room5-en All pictures courtesy of Hifadhi Zanzibar Ltd. Video by Sam Kaka

Throughout its existence African Architecture Matters has managed to build up a substantial library on subjects related to African architecture and urban environment. Most of our collection was acquired by Antoni Folkers who, together with Antie Kaan - De Nobel , was the caretaker of the library located in Utrecht until recently. Over the past two years large parts of our collection (including the Coen Beeker and Georg Lippsmeier Collection) have been handed over to the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal in the belief that the institution is better suited to make it accessible to a wider public. Fortunately for us, many titles have also made their way to our library in the African Architecture Matters’ office in Amsterdam where they can now be enjoyed by anyone interested upon earlier appointment. You can get in touch with us by sending an email to: office@aamatters.nl. To learn more about the library of the Canadian Centre for Architecture click here. #Library #Books #Education #Amsterdam