New Publication

As we actively look to branch out beyond the Architecture with a capital A that has to date been the main source of work for our studio, we have welcomed the publication of a new article by our Director Shanka Mesa Siverio in an unexpected, but eye-opening collaboration with local academics and writers.

Time-scales for this have been almost as long as some of our built projects, but the process of writing an edited with an established publication has been creative in a very different way. We were first approached by guest editors of the West Africa Edition of the Critical Muslim earlier in 2018 for thoughts on the West African Architecture for the quarterly publication. Naturally the brief was challenged and the commission became an opportunity to write about things that have long been on our minds, including the role of personal identity and participation in architecture as well as the ever-present colonialism within the visual arts.

The resulting 5000 word discourse is titled ‘Culture, Identity and Architecture’ and covers observations on the mechanisms by which existing political structures and social narratives are created, reinforced and sometimes challenged by architecture as well as thoughts on the current progress being made by West African Architects from various nations.

We are also honored to be participating in their panel discussion at their book launch, to be held at the LSE on May 15th 2019.

The publication is available to order in paperback or download directly from the Muslim Institute.