arcbox

MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN AFRICA: the exploration and the question of modernity in architecture

2012-02-28T22:42:00.001+02:00

The exploration, as anexample of a research process, is my personal journey on how I came to frameresearch into the book ‘Modern Architecture in Africa’. It follows -- perhaps not too conventionally-- the escape from the dungeons of Western Modernism at the TUDelft, via thepractice as a missionary-cowboy-architect in Africa, to reflections that formed the basis of the book.

It may seem a ‘do before we think’ process, but that isnot altogether the case. The leading research question of ‘what is modernism in architecture’ has been the red thread in mywork and thinking, still is the red thread today and probably will remain sountil my demise. Possibly without being answered to satisfaction. But that is not so much a problem.

This questionaccompanied me on the journey and will do remain so for the remainder of theroad. It is of such strength that if continuously fuels my thinking and practice,and forces me to move. There is, of course, a reason behind this question,which is the driver of my professional career.

Organizing thethinking process, framing the research and finding answers also commenced at anearly date on my journey, but were only seriously gaining momentum with theestablishment of ArchiAfrika and the projects that followed. These projects canbe seen as cases on how architectural research can be organized and carriedout, without twenty-odd years of working until coming to retrospective insightas seems to have happened to me.

Public Lecture: ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS IN COLLABORATION.

2012-02-20T22:12:00.001+02:00

This next Wednesday February 22nd the arcbox lecture series will present the public lecture ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS IN COLLABORATION.

presented by our Guest Silla Chow.

Silla Chow is a construction consultant working on school construction projects with the Rwanda Education Board. She has over 20 years experience in the construction industry, working on various public and private sector projects. She will share her experience of collaborating with architects as a structural engineer and as a project manager.

The lecture will take place next Wednesday February 22nd at 4.30 pm at FAED building.

PUBLIC LECTURE_Venezia: a city born from the water

2012-02-10T11:11:00.001+02:00

Arcbox cultural committee is pleased to present to you Edoardo Salzano.

Former Professor in Urban and Regional Planning and Dean of the School of Urban, Regional and Environmental Planning at the University IUAV of Venice, he also worked as a planning consultant in many Italian local governments. Author and editor of several books, journal articles, he collaborated with newspapers and magazines, and funded two planning journals and an online journal. He is founder and director of www.eddyburg.it, an Italian website concerning urban planning, society and political issues. Edoardo works, actively supports and provide technical assistance to a number of the progressive organisations and urban movements in Italy, but also participating to international forums.

The lecture focuses mainly on VENICE,a city in northeast Italy; the city of Marco polo.

In the story by Italo Calvino “Invisible cities”, every time that Marco Polo describes to Kublai Khan one of the cities he had been vising he implicitly says something about Venice. Marco Polo speaks of his own city, Venice, in order to distinguish the qualities of the others cities.

For Edoardo Salzano, Venice it is the same.
The reason why he lives there; He cares and talk about its origins, history and changes occurring and He will never stop to worry about the transformations and damages that human beings are doing to the city and to the lagoon (a very particular type of wetland) on which the city relies for its survival.

It will take place this Wednesday, February 15th at 4:30 PM in FAED classroom 2.

Come all.

SECRET CINEMA: MUMBAI DISCONNECTED

2012-02-09T09:53:00.005+02:00

Welcome to a SECRET CINEMA event.

Cities on Speed, GLOBAL VISIONS FOR an urban FUTURE is a documentary project commissioned by The Danish Film Institute and the national broadcaster DR . The project is a series of four films – Bogotà Change, Mumbai Disconnected, Cairo Garbage, Shanghai Space-, selected through a call for submissions, directed by four different filmmakers who tell character-based stories on four of the world’s largest megacities: Bogotá, Cairo, Mumbai and Shanghai.

Starting with 'Cairo Garbage' ,which looked at systemic disparties between the cities waste management plan and its increasing population, I will now screen the second , of the four movies, titled 'Mumbai Disconnected. This will be shown on 21st February at 8pm , at CINESTAR cinema in Nyamirambo. (Running time is 58 minutes).

'Like a city on steroids, Mumbai is rapidly becoming one of the world's biggest megacities. But it's all happening on a narrow peninsula with an infrastructure on the verge of complete collapse. Every day, 10-12 people die from falling off the overcrowded public trains. On the roads, cars come to a stand-still in serial traffic jams. To make matters worse, the Nano, India's new popular and affordable mini car, has just been launched. Through three interwoven human stories, we meet the people at the frontline of Mumbai's infrastructural battle. One thing is certain: urban planning is not easy in the world's largest democracy!' Danish Film Institute.

These films are in conjunction with KIST Urban Design Studio Year 4 and there will be a short introduction by tutor Killian Doherty. The future intention is that this film series relating to architecture and urban design will be screened to the public at KIST.

Entry is now 1500 RWF per person to subsidise free entry for the KIST Students. Your support is enabling these students exposure to resources not readily available at KIST and we thank you for your patronage.

PUBLIC LECTURE_ Architecture and Authorship

2012-02-07T14:28:00.001+02:00

It’s our pleasure to invite you to the public lecture: “Architecture and Authorship: from Gino Valle to open source architecture" by Prof. Pierre-Alain Croset.Prof. Pierre-Alain Croset is a Full Professor for Architectural and Urban Design at Politecnico di Torino; Director of the Master Program in Architecture, Construction, City and is also President of the Research Commission The lecture will discuss some questions concerning the complex relations between architecture, the architects as authors, and the buildings as works. The work and the figure of the Italian architect Gino Valle (1923-2003) will be at the center of this discussion, together with some other architects as Rafael Moneo and Alejandro Aravena. The hypothesis of architecture "without mark of author" will be illustrated in relation with the new challenges of the increasing global urbanization and new ethical engagements for the present architects.It will take place this Wednesday,December 8th at 4.30PM, FAED Classroom 2.Come all

FILM: BLADE RUNNER

2012-02-02T19:46:00.003+02:00

It’s our pleasure to invite you to the projection of the film: BLADE RUNNER

In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed life spans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when six replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth.

The movie show will take place on Friday Feb 03rd at 4:00pm, in KIST FAED building, KIST campus, 1^st floor classroom 2

PUBLIC LECTURE/ BUMBOGO TOPONYMIC URBANISM

2012-02-02T19:29:00.004+02:00

It’s our pleasure to invite you to the public lecture: Bumbogo Toponymic Urbanism by Guillaume Sardin

Africa is currently building its Urban Culture, in a global context of clusterized cities, of insularized space.

Urbanism shouldn’t be just about numbers. Although Africa is currently strongly lacking infrastructures, its needs cannot always be quantified. Urbanism should reflect culture, history and create a sense of belonging.

What if, instead of importing Beaux Arts Urbanism, we tried to reinterpret the archipelago city to propose an enhanced and adapted version of it? A city made to separate and join at the same time, a city of islands, imagination and exploration.

In a country of oral culture, toponymy (the study of place names) could help bonding the new urban society to its roots. Cities can make use of the meaning of places, and toponymy could be a tool for urban development all over Africa.

Bumbogo is a hill located in Kigali, Rwanda. Kigali is a dormant archipelago city, full of potential.

Bumbogo will be a manifest, a pragmatic utopia. By using the meaning of Rwanda and Kigali as a matrix, this project generates an ultra site-specific masterplan setting an example of fair urbanism."

The lecture will take place on Friday Feb 03rd at 2:00pm, in KIST FAED building,KIST campus,1st floor classroom 2

SECRET CINEMA

2012-01-31T16:20:00.004+02:00

Welcome to a SECRET CINEMA event.

Cities on Speed, GLOBAL VISIONS FOR an urban FUTURE is a documentary project commissioned by The Danish Film Institute and the national broadcaster DR. The project is a series of four films – Bogotà Change, Mumbai Disconnected, Cairo Garbage, and Shanghai Space -, selected through a call for submissions, directed by four different filmmakers who tell character-based stories on four of the world’s largest megacities: Bogotá, Cairo, Mumbai and Shanghai.

The series presents four filmic views of human conditions in four of the world’s biggest cities, focusing on urban problems and the people who are working on radical solutions – from underground parks in Shanghai, over clowns miming traffic police in Bogotá, to the so-called garbage collectors in Cairo and the Nano cars of Mumbai.

These films are in conjunction with KIST Urban Design Studio Year 4 and there will be a short introduction by tutors Ilaria Boniboruni and/or Killian Doherty. The future intention is that this film series films relating to architecture and urban design will be screened to the public at KIST.

I will be showing these starting with 'Cairo Garbage on 7th February at 8pm', at CINESTAR cinema in Nyamirambo. The remaining 3 films, will be spread out over the following weeks/months inbetween 'Secret Cinema' nights; below are the provisional dates.

Bogotà Change - 55 minutes - 21st February
Mumbai Disconnected - 58 minutes - 28th February
Shanghai Space - 56 minutes - 27th March

Entry is 1000 RWF per person. (KIST Students will be free - MUST BRING ID CARD)

Killian Doherty

REVIEW_ARCBOX EXHIBITION

2012-01-11T11:38:00.002+02:00

The ARCBOX GALLERY in the faculty of architecture and environment design has restarted.

On the 20th December, 2011, there was the opening of the current exhibition. The theme is the last semester's students' best works. The work of the best students of architecture of all the 3 years is exhibited for the whole month of January.

The purpose of this exhibition is to share with the rest of the university and the academic and cultural world in Kigali, what happens in the Architecture department. This exhibition helps as well the students to get ideas from the work of their classmates.

Six student works are in exhibition in FAED Arcbox, including:

From the first years we have the work of Aziz Farid Shyaka and Christian Karagire. That semester the topic was to research of the weaving techniques and materials to create a design for a bus stop in Gashora.

The works from the second year's are represented by Jean Paul Bigirimana and Theophile Uwayezu. They designs are based in the reinventon and design for anew market in Nyabugogo, where the importance of dealing with context, transportation, interior circulation, etc. were critical.

Representing the third year's the exhibition holds the works of Jean Paul Sebuhasyuwase and Thierry Iraguha. Their projects where based on a travelling studio they perform to Mombasa, to learn from other cultures, the swahili architecture. They learnt how to deal with an historical context, the importance of culture and heritage, and how architecture can deal with those topics. They where entering the world of the building technologies and the multi purpose and mixed uses. their design was to develop a wood workshop in Mombasa's old town.

This exhibition is taking place in FAED Arcbox up to the end of the month, and the Arcbox is open from 8AM till 5PM.

We hope to see you all there!

2012-01-07T16:57:00.002+02:00

On the 20th December, 2011 in the faculty of architecture and environment design, there was an exhibition of architecture student’s best work of the last semester.

The purpose of this exhibition was to share what happened in Architecture to the entail society; especially this exhibition helps students getting ideas from the work of their classmates.
Six works of students are in exposition in FAED Arcbox; they included the work of :
- Aziz Farid Shyaka and Christian Karagire; students in first year last semester. They did projects concerning a bus stop.

public lecture// SAND_BOX:; WORK AND PLAY

2011-12-30T12:14:00.006+02:00

This Wednesday January 4th 2012,As we start another year in FAED,arcbox lecture series will have the pleasure to present to you the work of SAND_BOX by Bruce Engel; who is a new instructor of architectural design 3.

Bruce Engel is co-founder and partner of sand_box which operates from New York and Chicago. Over the last 10 years his design firm has designed and built a range of projects including, new construction, renovations, installations, product design, and digital media. His lecture will provide a wide survey of work from the beginnings of sand_box until present day all with a focus on the importance and role of PLAY.

public lecture// THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE SHAPING URBAN DEVELOPMENT

2011-12-21T15:56:00.003+02:00

This Wednesday 21st DECEMBER. The arcbox lecture series will have the pleasure to present the importance of language in shaping urban development by Dr. llaria Boniboruni.

to help architecture students know about their lecturers; through a series of lectures, arcbox lecture series will present to you all new lecturers of the department.

Dr.llaria is a new lecturer in the Department of architecture.This time she is going to share with us,”How words make the city”.

Words are very important not only to communicate and understand each other, but also to give meaning to things and therefore to shape reality. They are also important in architecture, urban design and urban planning because they have the power to influence the way we think about the city, how to interpret it, how to represent it and therefore how to change it.

The discourse about the city through the years has produced many ideas of what the city is, should be and how to achieve that idea. The production of these ideas is a “battle field” where different ideas struggle to emerge. The idea that manages to become dominant has the power to influence, more than other ideas, other discourses, to influence urban policies, masterplans and the way architects and planner envisage and design the city and/or parts of it.

Dr.llaria will show us how different ideas of the city have been conveyed, and how these have the power to construct different types of cities and different types of citizenship.

Nairobi will be used as a point in case to see how words have contributed to a certain type of urban development.

ARCHITECT OF THE MONTH

2011-12-21T11:58:00.000+02:00

ANNA HERINGER

"Architectureis a tool to improve lives."Anna Heringer

“Learning with joyis the school’s philosophy – the best for me is to see the building crowdedwith sprightly kids, who are really happy to go to school. It is primarily notthe architecture that makes something special – it’s the people: everyone whoworked on it with all efforts and potentials and all who live in it and fillthe space with atmosphere.” Anna Heringer

Anna Heringer designed and realized in Bangladesh a“handmade” school that highlights the use of the natural materials that thecountry is increasingly forsaking in favor of industrial materials. They arebuilt by hand by local laborers, who learn new construction methods. “People are becoming interested now in findingtheir own solutions, not just copying the West,” said Anna Heringer

Anna Heringer, young womanarchitect, was born in 1977 in Rosenheim (Germany), grew up in Laufen a.d.Salzach and is currently living in Salzburg (Austria).

Anna Heringer spent one yearin Bangladesh (1997/98) as development learner. Since then she is involved indevelopment work. She studied architecture at the University of Art Linz, whereshe graduated in 2004 with her diploma: "School-handmade in Bangladesh."

An important focus of her work is the trainingof young architects. She has conducted hands-on workshops for students withBASEhabitat in South Africa, Austria and Bangladesh. In 2008 she was teachingat the Stuttgart University and since 2008 she is heading the studio"BASEhabitat" where she is a visiting professor. In 2010 she receivedthe nomination as Honorary Professor of the UNESCO Chair "EarthenArchitecture".

Anna Heringer wonseveral international awards; amongst them she won the prestigious Aga KhanAward for Architecture for her ingenious design of a primary school in ruralBangladesh that combined modern construction techniques with traditional,locally available materials such as bamboo sticks, earth, and straw. She won theAR Emerging Architecture Award (2006 and 2008)

Retrieved from

www.anna-heringer.com

http://www.fondationpourlarchitecture.be

http://europaconcorsi.com

ARCBOX EXHIBITION INVITES YOU TO THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, LAST YEAR BEST WORKS.COME ONE COME ALL.

2011-12-16T18:52:00.004+02:00

REVIEW_KISSED

2011-12-16T10:51:00.001+02:00

At first we ask ourselves about the name but few minutes after the lecture began we start to understand that it is all about images and what they really tell us, what do you see in those different images.

She came for the first time to Rwanda after being fascinated by a picture of an over-terraced hill. She wanted to understand, why? And how, a culture is organized and a society works in order to produce a change in the landscape like that.

Yutaka has been working in Rwanda with General Architecture Collaborative. This firm works not only in architecture but also related to anthropology.

One of their projects in Rwanda is to work with people to build an imudugudu but also researching about the evolution of Rwanda architecture, the importance of western architecture and conceptions and their relation with Rwandan traditions

She discussed about the latest constructions built in Kigali comparing them to the Nyakatsi, she defended that the image of the country is changing according to the needs of the government and the needs of the foreign investors. The beautiful green gardens and shiny new buildings are an image addressed to the foreign investors to give them an idea of the country, related to modernity, safeness and economic growth.

Yutaka’s work studies the idea of reconciliation in Rwanda; it’s not only a matter of people but also a matter of spaces. How can we get peace through spaces, and through building processes. When the offender build a house for the victims or when they all site together in the same space.

It was interesting to see her point of view of “domestic spaces” here in Rwanda. How she understands the discretion of the Rwandese people in public spaces. She explained how private spaces in our houses are more “public” and freer, than the actual public ones. How we use the back of our “domestic home”, changing it into a public space, were we invite outsiders, enjoy and discuss.

She explained her idea of western people having a wrong image of Rwanda, they don’t see people laughing, dancing but they see people carrying guns, peoplewalking almost wearing nothing and tell us she will go back in Syracuse university and will discuss with her students about images she will bring from Rwanda and show them that the images they have of us are wrong.

During her work in Albania, on an old rail station, she designed a transformation of an abandoned rail station. It was interesting to see how her idea of transforming something and adding something can change everything rather than to destroy it and start scratch.

At the end of the lecture we start to think more about images we look at, what do they really tell us, those millions of images we see everyday?

public lecture_KISSED by Yutaka Sho

2011-12-12T07:05:00.004+02:00

This WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER. The arcbox lecture series will have the pleasure to present the work of Yutaka Sho.

Yutaka's work and teaching are built around an effort to redraw established borders between perceived geographical, cultural, economic, racial, ethical and aesthetic boundaries. She understands her work as an interface between continents, disciplines, concepts and modes of operations.

Yutaka is the founder of General Architecture Collaborative, and currently they are working on a housing project with an association of widows in Rwanda, master plan of a new university in Uganda and a design of a camera obscura in the US, among other projects. Their work has been published in Domus web and exhibited at 2010 Venice Biennale. When she is not searching for the best zingaro in Rwanda, Yutaka is an assistant professor of architecture at Syracuse University in New York.

The lecture will take place in FAED building at 4.00pm, we hope to see you all there.

REVIEW_TOUCHING THE GROUND

2011-12-12T06:52:00.005+02:00

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen” said Frank Llyod Wright.

This Friday the Arcbox lectures series had the privilege of hosting one of the best lecture up to now: “TOUCHING THE GROUNG” based on the doctorate thesis of Toma Berlanda, one of our senior lecturers.

Tomà is a senior lecturer of the department of architecture at FAED, KIST and he is known for his comments emphasizing the importance on how the buildings touch the ground. In his lecture, he started by introducing to the audience his thesis project, how he started and methods he used to get to the final product. He created a lexicon (collection of words) to help him to understand and give order to architects intentions.

He took the audience through his thesis starting by the idea that architects are the ones that modify the ground the importance of how they consider the ground in their designs. He called this “Encounter the ground”.

He proceeded by showing what happened once the building touches the ground. Once the building meets the ground there is a discovery of the territory. The architect has to find the correct placement and start to consider the “growth” of the building, horizontal and the vertical, if he or she wants the building to have the vertical part at the upper part or at the intersection with the ground.

He gave importance to the fact that the architect is the one who decide to which extent the building touches or modifying the ground and not just the engineer. This was supported by examples of architects who considered the ground in their designs like Sverre Fehn, Le Corbusier, Dimitri Pikionis…..

He ended up by explaining the tectonics which is how the building parts come together and how these ones meets with the ground.

The presentation was followed by a series of questions by guests and students: Eudes Kayumba Arch.-who is one of the successful Rwandese architects-, arch. Luca Ginouliach -who works in UNICEF- and many students.

The Arcbox culture committee,representing the students, are thankful for this opportunity that were given to all students to experience a real presentation of a thesis project. We thank arch.Tomà Berlanda for his time and we encourage all students to be more participative in our lecture series.

PUBLIC LECTURE_TOUCHING THE GROUND

2011-12-08T16:26:00.005+02:00

This week, we will restart the series of public lectures at the faculty of architecture and creative design. We will start this year with Tomà Berlanda PH.d, a senior lecturer and a researcher of the department of architecture in FAED. Tomà has also taught in Italy, switzerland and the United States.

Tomà Berlanda, is an architect and a researcher. Born in Venice he developed his studies of architecture in the Accademia della architettura di Mendrisio (USI) and then got his Ph.D in the Politecnico di torino, with the thesis: topographical Lexicon. He will present his research on the way buildings "touch" the ground. How different architects and buildings try to give answers and react to their sites.

The Lecture will take place at FAED Building TODAY 9th december 2011, 4.00pm

The research project stems from a reflection on the relationship between architecture and place.

Amidst many, two question, which have already and at length been debated, deserve further investigation and experimentation. The first is the hiatus between recurrent statements on the necessity of the marking of the ground, the importance of placing the building, of the topographical situation, and the absence of scientific criteria to put into practice these indications. “Great” architects, more or less consciously, build up their personal toolbox. Aalto’s drawings show “one single and integral moment of stratigraphy, of every stratigraphy including lakes, water and seas, and contour lines”, in Utzon’s buildings the constructive logic of the tectonic form and the syntactic logic of geometry are continuously interacting, in Siza the work of the architect is thoroughly linked to that of the topographer. But the attention to the geographic patterns of places, to the form of the landscape and the singularities of topographies is not immediately translated into architecture, and to establish which are the moments of mediation is no easy task.

The second question is the diffused habit, almost a stereotype in the critical language, of praising a building as an “architecture creating a place where once stood a site”, without addressing the question “which are the reasons that make it possible for a work of architecture to create a place”. This omission is often the reason for an indiscriminate recourse to paradigms belonging to other disciplines. Thus, the architect who manipulates the landscape not only builds above the earth but modifies it through excavations, the architect in charge of great infrastructures seeks the relationship with the ground in a different dimension, the architect-geographer mediates between different morphological situations. What is missing, instead, is an explicit and fruitful work of disciplinary crossbreeding with land art and its interest to the quality of materials and transformations due to the climatic and seasonal changes.

Somewhere in between the two questions hereby posed, the hypothesis guiding the research project is that it is possible, other the necessary, to set up a sort of repertoire of elementary topographical conditions and that this operation would serve in a better understanding of how each of them is transformed in a grammar of transmissible design actions and not only related to individual sensibility. The lexicon is the intellectual tools that tries to do this.

CULTURAL COMMITTEE_NEW POSITIONS

2011-12-02T09:20:00.002+02:00

After last year’s success with the start of the lecture series and exhibitions, the Department of Architecture opens new positions within its CULTURE COMITTEE.

We think that the life of the school and the learning process, has a crucial role beyond the teaching ours and the walls of the faculty building. There are lots of things to discover and to learn from, many to show to the Kigali’s architectural landscape and its cultural scene.

As protagonists of your own learning you are asked to participate and promote the cultural activities of your Department. Organize lectures and exhibitions, promoting the culture to your colleagues and friends and building up a student’s task force is expected from you. To reach the excellence of the Department and to create a network of knowledge that will benefit you and the future promotions of Rwandan architects. Managing and organizing lectures, exhibitions, and social networks, being exposed to guests and professional lecturers would benefit you and your careers.

For this purpose the students composing the culture committee will restart the LECTURE SERIES every Friday at 15.00pm, and the ARCBOX EXHIBITIONS. The ARCBLOG will serve as a window to our faculty work and growth and also as a tool to learn from the architectural world in general: publish articles and the work that is being done within our faculty and in the architectural world in general. This year we will start as well with a CINEMA FORUM every Tuesday at 5.30pm.

NUMBER OF POSITIONS:

16 (4 for each year

Revision of existing positions: 9 existing for 2^nd to 4^th year students.

New positions: 4 students from first year.

ESTIMATED HOURS PER WEEK: 2-3

POSITION OPEN TO: all grades students.

SCHEDULE : Meetings: every Tuesday from 12.00-to 14.00 at ARC staff office

C1_Lecture series: Every Friday

C2_Arcbox exhibitions: Every one or two weeks

C3_Arcblog

C4_Cinema

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: Students will make themselves available outside of normal class hours to assist in lectures, exhibitions, arrangement and update of the architectural blog and cinema series. A minimal amount of clerical duties (scanning, making photocopies, collecting drawings from students or guests, etc.) may be required. Additional duties may arise, but anything added will not exceed a workload of 3 hours per week. All students are expected to meet once weekly to organize themselves and additional work will be distributed in order to prepare lectures and exhibitions on time.

The existing positions will be revised in order to promote the good work and improve the CULTURAL COMITTEE with those committed and excited with the work.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Submit a BRIEF STATEMENT OF INTEREST to arcbox.LS@gmail.com.

DEADLINE POSTPONED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 5pm. APPLY NOW!

2011-09-18T17:30:00.004+02:00

Please join us for the FAED Department of Architecture Exhibition celebrating our achievements during the year 2011.

We welcome our external examiner Dr. Omenya from Kenya. Coinciding his visit, we have decided to host a Career Day in order to share our students’ work with the architecture community of Kigali and beyond.

We are also happy to announce the publication of ARCBOOK 2011.

The opening reception for the Exhibition would be from 4.00pm to 5.00pm on Tuesday, September 20th.

We look forward to seeing you. And thank you for your support for the past year. We could not have done this without you.

MILK KIOSK PROTOTYPES workshop FINAL PRESENTATION

2011-09-15T09:56:00.004+02:00

After two weeks of work, this friday the students participating on the workshop will present the outcomes of the urban analysis, the process of the amata and the rituals involved in its consumption, as well as the designs for three different prototypes of mobile or fixed amata kiosks.

The final presentation will take place this friday 16th at 16.30 at FAED building

check out on th eprocess of design:

milkkiosk-prototypes.blogspot.com

WALL WORKS:Structural Patterns workshop FINAL PRESENTATION

2011-09-15T09:51:00.002+02:00

This friday, at 3.30 pm the final presentation of the workshop Wall Works: Structural Patterns will take place.

KIST architecture students explored structural, urban and pattern potentials of brick walls.

Please join us at Kimisagara Football for hope center, near by la maison des jeunes this Friday, September 16.

Hope to see you then

WEAVING TRANSFORMATIONS by the students of architecture and creative design

2011-09-14T13:12:00.001+02:00

public lecture: LEARNT IN TRANSLATION by PETER RICH

2011-09-08T12:55:00.007+02:00

Peter Rich Architect's ,and founder partner of Light Earth Designs LLP, balances teaching and producing architecture and at the same time helping to empower a younger generation of architects.

Peter Rich's distinctive body of work is testament to a lifetime of commitment to the creation of a uniquely African architecture. He has learnt form the spatial and aesthetic elements of African tribal settlements. His work has the ability to fuse Modernist principles and local tribal conventions and sensitiveness to material and environment. His practice transmits a deep understanding of context achieved through sustained research and collaboration with communities.

The lecture in relation with the exhibition LEARNT IN TRANSLATION draws on Peter Rich's extensive personal and professional career, through his drawings and travel sketches, models and photographs. Rich's working methodology emphasizes the importance of community engagement and research. Part of this process is intensive observation of people and environments, and documentation of the context for a project through sketching and measured drawings.

Peter Rich's lecture will be held in Esperance's nearly completed 'Football for Hope Centre' at 6pm Monday 12th September 2011.

The centre designed and built by Killian Doherty funded by Architecture for Humanity, will house Esperance's activities within the commity of Kimsagara the most densely populated, disadvantaged area in central Kigali with few opportunities for young people and alarming school dropout rates.

Esperance uses football as a tool for reconciliation, but also to facilitate life skills training and education for Rwandan youth.

Thanks to Esperance, L'Ecole Primaire de Kimisagara, Three Code Construction and FAED lecture series for organising this event.

http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/esperance

http://www.peterricharchitects.co.za/

THE SECOND YEAR FINAL REVIEW

2011-08-30T18:18:00.007+02:00

The final review of the second year’s architecture studio took place onTuesday 23th august.

During this semester the students have spend about 6 weeks rethinking and designing Nyabugogo market.

The presentation was divided in different categories refering to the main concepts of the students. Some students put emphasis on materials and forms while others worked on ground manipulation, negative public spaces, or continuity.

As It’s become a routine there were more than class lecturers to comment the works of the students including Sierra Bainbridge(Head of Department of architecture); third year’s design studio lecturers(Tomà Berlanda , Nerea Amoros Elorduy and Keffa Angwenyi) and first year’s studio lecturers (Yutaka Sho and Christian Benimana).

The Project was a success to students as it was commented during the crits. They worked through challenges in the overall project. The fact that the site was an urban infill incorporating a public space like a market, without forgetting the problem of hawkers and circulation(vehicular or pedestrian) and also taking into account that students came up with solutions to most of those problems was a good and recommendable work.

However, Students were asked to work on their drawing and presentation skills by working together and helping each other to improve one another’s.

2011-08-30T06:23:00.002+02:00

After the exams and final reviews of the 2010-2011 year in FAED is time for September sessions’ workshops.

This year three workshops will take place, ranging from the smallest scale of the materiality and the tectonics of a wall; the architectural scale and its relation with the city organization trough a milk kiosk; or the largest urban scale of housing typologies and human settlements.

The workshop called Wall Works –Structure Patterns will be driven by Yutaka Sho, and Michael Beaman, and will focus on designing masonry wall systems that require no mortar, are structurally sound, resist seismic activity, and can accommodate a variety of openings for ventilation, views, circulation, and privacy for urban conditions.

Although the workshop focuses on material and tectonics, students are charged to explore urbanity through the issues including but not limited to scale, connectivity, double sided nature of the wall, visually and programmatic appropriation. The workshop will be held in two parts from 5^th to 16^th September 2011.

The first part will focus on pattern making through three concepts: tiling, interlocking, and layering. The second part will be an intensive session focused on using these 2 dimensional patterns to design, model and prototype a 3 dimensional wall system using repetitive masonry units. Each student will be supplied with model making materials, and expected to develop their project in 2 and 3 dimensions.

The work produced in this workshop may become the basis for a research seminar with students at the University of Virginia in the spring of 2012 as well as be complied in a publication that examines efficient masonry structural systems.

The milk kiosk prototypes workshop, will be held as well from the 5^th to the 16^th spetember 2011.

This one will be driven by Kilian Doherty and Nerea Amorós Elorduy with the support and sponsor of Rwanda Works.

This workshop will focus on the design for mobile kiosk prototypes. The goal is to be able to understand a bigger framework of production processes, selling strategies, and market logics, emphasizing their adaptation to the urban scenario and their specific design.

The workshop will be held in two parts. The first part will be an intensive urban understanding. We will focus on site and market analysis specifically on: the existing amata shops, and three general zones within the city where to possibly allocate these kiosks. The students will map and understand daily activities, patterns of movement and processes of production and selling. The second part will be the design of a prototype for a mobile/flexible milk kiosk. The teams will choose the best approach to it depending on lessons learned and the site where they will be working on.

The work produced in this workshop may become the basis for a further design development and real build entities that will work as prototypes for future amata kiosks.

(more info at milkkiosk-prototypes.blogspot.com)

The workshop called Urban and Rural Housing Typologies will take place from Sep 5^th to Sep 14th , every day (including weekends)

During this time the students will be invited to partner up with colleagues from University of Arkansas, USA, under the lead of an international team of designers. This Peter Rich, Tim Hall, Korydon Smith as well as Sierra Bainbridge and Tomà Berlanda.

Building upon the research started last year, in the Urban and Rural Settlement Patterns workshop, we will take an alternate approach to the current city master plan. We will be developing urban and architectural proposals that include:

exterior public/communal spaces
community service spaces, such as schools, churches, and health facilities
commercial spaces
medium-density domestic spaces for both displaced families and upper-income families

To accomplish this, we will utilize a four-phase process. First, we will explore the “unplanned” settlements of the urban, suburban, and rural environments in/around Kigali in an attempt to understand the social customs, spatial typologies, and construction methods of local Rwandans. Second, we will develop explanatory diagrams, drawings, models, and writings of our observations and interactions. Third, we will utilize this information to develop urban design goals and strategies that draw from the vernacular cultural, material, and spatial landscape.

Finally, we will develop architectural proposals that articulate and exemplify these principles.

The applications are open to participate, we hope those workshops will complement and improve the knowledge that the students learn during the semester, enjoying and enriching the faculty curricula.

THE THIRD YEAR FINAL REVIEW

2011-08-29T21:52:00.004+02:00

The third year’s final review took place the 24th august and started at 8.30 AM.
The presentation was divided in morning and afternoon sessions.
During the morning session, the studio greet some external guest to give crits to the students projects; Luca Ginoulhiac from UNICEF Rwanda construction section, Marco Ginoulhiac professor at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, Killian Doherty from Architecture for Humanity, Yutaka Sho senior Lecturer at FAED, Sierra Bainbridge acting Head of the department of architecture in FAED, together with the instructors Tomà Berlanda, Nerea Amorós Elorduy and Kefa Angwenyi
For the afternoon session the new external guests were Garret Gantner lecturer at FAED, Ben Hartigan from Mass Group and Bruce Engel from Sharon Davis design studio.
The final reviews were organized in couples, were students with similar projects presented their projects to the guest and colleagues and received the crits and opinions.
The project was Swahili Woodwork Restoration and Exhibition Centre based on the existing model of the Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa (RISSEA).
The students were given 3 sites; Piggott place, government square and one adjacent to the cemetery and fort Jesus.
Today Mombasa’s Old Town is suffering from a progressive loss of productive activities. The majority of tourists arrive in Fort Jesus, where they are met by guides which bring them around on a fast paced walking tour, and then leave. They spend little time and money on the ground, thus failing to contribute to the revitalization and preservation of the neighborhood. Simultaneously the pressure by real estate development is pushing the old inhabitants outside of the Old Town. New, market driven, developments are constantly being proposed without any consideration of the history and tradition. With their design, the students have been invited to propose an alternative model for this, a cultural institute which will promote the future of the old town.
After the presentation students, instructors and guests shared a drink together.

FIRST YEAR FINAL REVIEW

2011-08-28T16:21:00.003+02:00

The first year’s final review begun cleaning the studio the night before .The next morning ,first group had finished to pin up their work as the guest critics, Soita wambete,Sierra Bainbridge, Garet gantner, and Alicia capelli arrived .They started with two-by-two as they gave them their comments.
As the pin up progressed, the lunch time approached as well .But before we went for lunch, Dancilla,the representative of the COVAGA women weavers, one of the important guests arrived, giving some interesting critiques. After the presentations of a few more couple of groups ,we went for lunch .
The second session began with new guest Killian Doherty, Thomas Berlanda, Nerea Amoros elorduy, as time went on, some of the students that had finished their presentation disappeared and others were busy trying to finish their work in the creative design studio.
After the second session of the presentation, we voted for the top 3 students whose work was better and more comprehensive to be exhibited in the arcbox, within the exhibition “weaving transformations”.
The voting process begun with the students picking the best student from 3 groups thought did the best work, afterwards the lecturers voted as well. Later we all came up with three students: SHYAKA Aziz Farid ,INGABIRE Doren and KARAGIRE Christian .They were chosen as the representative students for our 1st year in architecture 2011 with the project of designing a bus stop for COVAGA in Gashora, Bugesera, Eastern province, which was not as obvious as it could seem.

In brief, the project although at the beginning of the semester, things were not making a lot of sense (how to use and learn from the weaving techniques to come up with a bus stop) as time went on, students learnt a lot from the different weaving techniques.
We really thank our lectures for the great lessons that we had together throughout the entire memorable 1st year of architecture.

2011-08-21T18:28:00.004+02:00

This week the final reviews of the architecture design studios will take place, at FAED building.

First year's studio under the theme: Material / Technique / Concept in Space will take place on Monday 22th.

Second year's studio called: Nyabugogo Market Re-envisioned will be helded on Tuesday 23th.

And Third year's travelling studio to Mombasa called: Swahili woodwork restoration and exhibition center will be on Wednesday 24th.

Looking forward to see you all there.

WEAVING TRANSFORMATIONS

2011-08-20T13:02:00.001+02:00

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF DESIGN? MASS Design Group: Public lecture and Exhibition, FRIDAY 19 August 2.00 pm

2011-08-17T11:37:00.005+02:00

With a scope of work beyond the purview of most architecture firms, MASS works as a partner with governments, NGOs, private sector firms, and health care experts to bring appropriate, empowering design work and advocacy for typically underserved and under-resourced areas. In this talk, Sierra Bainbridge (MASS Country Director) and Garret Gantner (MASS Project Manager) will discuss a holistic approach to design that seeks to increase the value of the architectural profession through interdisciplinary research, capacity building, and immersion in the field.

Butaro Hospital, Rwanda

http://archinect.com/features/article/16646139/showcase-butaro-hospital-in-rwanda

http://www.massdesigngroup.org/

ARCHITECT OF THE MONTH

2011-08-11T22:52:00.007+02:00

PETER RICH

The South African architect Peter Rich founded Peter Rich architects, on 1973. The studio works to engage the society through architecture, using sustainable designs and local materials. The gross amount of their projects are developed in Africa, from South Africa to Ethiopia or Rwanda.
Their project Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre has been awarded by the 2009 world architecture festival.

Designed to house artifacts from the region´s prehistory, the building connects intimately with an extraordinary veldt site in northern South Africa near the border with Zimbabwe. The complex landscape was both the inspiration for the design and the source of most of the materials for its construction. The heart of the interpretation centre is visually contained by two hollow vaults that evoke the route-markers found in southern African cultures.

Huge vaults are used to construct the billowing forms that expose the arched edges of their thin shells, an analogy of the archaeological revelation of past cultures.

The architecture of the centre responded to vernacular African types, synthesizing forms, materials and light in a nuanced but unsentimental way. The innovative design creates a contemporary building of immense resonance and richness. It is also underpinned by a strong social program, using the skills and labor of local people and involving them in the design and construction process.

Engaging with tradition and modernity, place and people, it offers a different view of architecture as a subversive and poetic force for transformation.Retrieved from: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

Among the impressive projects they have done, Peter rich architects are now working in the develop of the akumunigo master plan in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Akumunigo housing development has been designed to create the opportunity for the city of Kigali to promote the development of higher density housing through a three storey walk-up design.
The scheme, at four times previous development densities, was developed to demonstrate how housing could be designed to make use of the sloping topography, create meaningful external spaces and respect the pedestrian.

The master plan was inspired by an understanding external space in the Rwandan urban and rural context. The Urubuga or public open space is expressed in the scheme through semi-public walkways and courtyards, forming a network of external spaces that structure the development. The design therefore respects Rwandan tradition by incorporating this culturally cherished private courtyard within the layout. retrieved from: www.peterricharchitects.co.za

The firm has scooped the contract to design a “white house” for Rwanda, which will be a home to President Paul Kagame and all future heads of state. The presidential residence would be so iconic that is likely to appear on future Rwandan bank notes. Retrieved from: www.architectafrica.com

Peter Rich and some of his sketches of Rwanda www.peterricharchitects.co.za

Drawing of Mapungubwe interpretaion center www.peterricharchitects.co.za

Mapungubwe interpretation center www.peterricharchitects.co.za

BARRIER FREE DESIGN:public lecture FRIDAY 12 3.00pm

2011-08-08T22:20:00.005+02:00

Dr. Yoshihiko KAWAUCHI, a professor of engineering at Toyo University in Japan, is an expert in barrier-free and universal design.

A bathing structure at a park. For standing and for wheel chair users.

A wheelchair user himself, Dr. Kawauchi advocates to design our built environment to be accessible for all.

The talk will be focused into increase awareness and positive attitude toward barrier-freedesign and to mainstream it in our society, starting from seeing the world through a perspective other than one’s own.

The purpose of this lecture is to find solutions for everyday needs for persons with disabilities,including providing programmatic solutions when infrastructure is lacking, and to create hospitable environment for all.

The issues of accessibility are shared by all societies.

We hope that you could join us.

BUILDING WITH EARTH: LA VOÛTE NUBIENNE

2011-08-04T11:20:00.000+02:00

Next week, on Wednesday 10 August, at 15.00hs the arcbox lecture series will host a public lecture about earth and sustainable techniques of building.

The organization, La Voûte Nubienne is currently working on a project for Gardens for health near by Kigali, during the month of August. The guests are going to explain us the traditional technique of the nubbian vault and how it is applied all over the world.

We hope to see you there.

Images retrieved from: www.lavoutenubienne.org

EAIA ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS COMPETITION

2011-08-03T18:08:00.003+02:00

The studio project entitled "Swahili Wood Restoration Center: Workshop and Exhibition" of Jean Paul Uwase Sebuhayi a 3rd year architecture student in FAED was awarded the "Best student work from emerging schools of architecture" in the East Africa Region prize.

This year’s competition took place in Kampala on 28th to 30th July 2011. The event is organized every year by the (EAIA) East Africa Institute of Architects, and aims to encourage students to keep pushing their projects to the limits as much as they can. It is also intended to promote and award the students' best projects in the region, from emerging schools and also the best final projects. This year, The first price for the final project went to University of Nairobi. The student awarded was Nyandiko O. Frederick for the project named “Malindi Water world Oceanarium”.

The deliberating jury was impressed by the quality of work Jean Paul Sebuhayi in its exhibition and its presentation. The project presented was done on a site outside of Rwanda (Mombasa Old Town, Kenya). The challenge presented by the project was how to respond to the diversity of a mixed urban development. To achieve a sustainable and suitable design that learns from the site conditions and constraints and the local authorities requirements. It was crucial to understand and strength the existing historical and urban qualities, given by the identity of Swahili architecture. In addition, the design solution should demonstrate clear understanding of mixed urban development, site planning, appropriate design scale to the local setting and use of private and public spaces, movement patterns and form / image.

The members of the jury congratulated the faculty staff members as well as the work as school of architecture, encouraging and valuing what FAED has accomplished so far.

Jean Paul Sebuhayi thanks his instructors (Toma Berlanda, Nerea Amoros Elorduy, Kefa Angwenyi) for their efforts to make sure his work is well done and worth presenting to this competition. He thanks as well Christian Benimana, the FAED members, lecturers, and all his colleagues’ students.

Thanks to AAR (Architects Association of Rwanda) and particularly Eudes Kayumba (ex president of EAIA) for help us, be always supportive with the new generation of rwandan architects and make this happen.

ARCHITECT OF THE MONTH

2011-07-29T15:35:00.007+02:00

FRANCIS KÉRÉ

“African architecture should stop copying the West, engage the real needs of the people and regard the environment” Francis

“Africans need to develop their own identity in architecture” Francis Kéré.( http://www.designindaba.com/speaker/francis-kere )

Diébédo Francis Kéré, born 1965 in Gando, is an architect from Burkina Faso who studied in Germany.

The focus of Kéré’s drafts is climatic adaptation, low building costs and self building: “The community needs to be educated on how to monitor the climatic circumstances and to use local materials. Only people who take part in the building process can maintain and spread the word about these architectural projects.”( http://www.designindaba.com/speaker/francis-kere )

Since 2001 his projects included the erection of numerous schools in Burkina Faso. He devised a building technique based on traditional methods of loam construction, extended with modern structural principles. His buildings rely principally on local materials and a construction process based on manual labor. He devises the buildings in a way that they can cope with heat and rain.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di%C3%A9b%C3%A9do_Francis_K%C3%A9r%C3%A9 )

As an architect he defines himself as “a bridge between cultures, between the technically and economically developed countries of ‘the north’ and the less developed African countries (the south)”.( http://www.designindaba.com/speaker/francis-kere)

While he was studying, In September 1998 he founded the association “Schulbausteine für Gando eV” for the funding of his first project, a primary school in his home village. The building was finished in 2001 and received the Aga Khan Award for its exemplarity as well as its concise and elegant architecture using basic, constructive instruments. This was the first of many awards, others including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2009 and the BSI Swiss Architectural Award in 2010. His work has also been featured in numerous publications including Design Like You Give a Damn (2006), The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture (2001) and 10x10/3 – 100 Architects 10 Critics (2009).( http://www.designindaba.com/speaker/francis-kere )

Besides his occupation as a self-employed planner Francis Kéré has been working as a lecturer at the “Technische Universität Berlin”, “Habitat Unit”, since 2004. His main subjects are housing and urban development, strategies of climatically advantageous building, sustainable utilization of materials, integration of local labor force, and local construction techniques.( http://www.kere-architecture.com/person.html )

PERPETUAL PEACE PROJECT

2011-07-29T07:31:00.004+02:00

Umushinga Perpetual Peace Project washinzwe bigendeye ku myumvire yuko nta muntu cg ikigo gishobora kwemeza ko kizi neza icyo ari cyo amahoro.

Muri iki gihe, kimwe no mu gihe cya Immanuel Kant(1724-1804),igitekerezo cy’amahoro ntikirasobanuka kandi gikomeje kubonwa nk’ikinyuranyo cy’intambara. Umushinga wacu ushobora gusobanuka binyujijwe mu gitekerezo cya Kant cyo “kwamamaza”; ubwinshi bw’imyumvire y’iryo jambo budufasha kwerekeza ibiganiro mu byerekezo bitandukanye bifite n’imyumvire itandukanye.

Uyu mushinga utangira wumvikanisha ko igitekerezo cy’amahoro kidashobora gusobanurwa binyujijwe mu muco no muri politiki. Intego y’uyu mushinga ni ukwiga no gusesengura igitekerezo cy’amahoro, uhereye ku myumvire ko nta rurimi rusange rushobora gukoreshwa nk’ururimi fatizo muri icyo kiganiro cy’amahoro. Ku bwizo mpamvu umushinga wacu ufite ingamba uhereye mu bigo bitandukanye,zo gushyiraho uburyo bwo kwongera kwibaza ku gitekerezo cy’amahoro.

Intego z’umushinga ntago ari ugushyiraho amategeko ngenderwaho, ahubwo gutekereza ku mushinga w’amahoro no kwibaza k’uburyo ushobora kugerwaho.Umushinga wacu ntushobora kugerwaho mu buryo bwo gushaka kubona igisobanuro nyacyo, ahubwo buri gisobanuro kigomba kugirana isano n’abantu runaka ndetse n’imigenzereze y’umuco. Ijambo amahoro riganirwaho mu buryo butandukanye bitewe n’abantu batandukanye ndetse n’uburyo babayeho. Mu yandi magambo, ibice bitandukanye by’ibi biganiro n’ imitunganirize yabyo biduha igitekerezo rusange mbere yuko biba.

Ibitekerezo bitandukanye twumvise muri uyu mushinga ku murongo w’ikoranabuhanga wa interineti, mu imurikabikorwa, mu biganiro nyunguranabitekerezo, byatanze undi mwanya w’ibisobanuro bishoboka. Ibitekerezo ntibyari bitegerejweho ibisobanuro byimbitse ku muco w’amahoro ahubwo kugaragariza abitabiriye imurika n’abandi uburyo bwo gusobanura no gusemura amahoro ubwayo. Uruhare rwa buri wese rurakenewe muri icyo kiganiro kuko nta muntu wemezako afite ubumenyi buhagije bwerekeye ku gitekerezo cy’amahoro.

ARCBOX GALLERY IS TAKING OFF THE GROUND!

2011-07-28T19:55:00.009+02:00

This week the arc box has hosted the exhibition PHOTO PLAY by Mark Robins the Dean of School of Architecture of Syracuse University. The photos included some homes, of Architecture students’ who volunteered and helped to the caption of those pictures that showed their own domestic spaces.

“The hearth within a house could be understood as the site of the first public forum. Domestic space is at once private and public”. Gottfried Semper.

The morning of 26^th July 2011,after the Theory class, the pin up in the arcbox and around it of giant adhesives took place. Aaron Levy the founder of the Perpetual Peace Project is starting together with the arcbox gallery the PERPETUAL PEACE PROJECT interactive exhibition.

This event is going to drive us trough the universal concepts of peace and its relation with architecture and arts. On those adhesives some phrases were written, around the idea of peace extracted from Immanuel Kant’s essay “ Perpetual Peace” and students were invited to translate it into Kinyarwanda. This was a great moment for students as well as for lectures as it is shown on pictures. Everybody was amazed!!!

LECTURE:MEGASTRUCTURE AND MICROURBANISM

2011-07-28T13:51:00.000+02:00

Delia Wendel a researcher from Harvard University will give a lecture within the subject of Human Settlements next Tuesday, 03.08.2011 at 11am.

Axonometric drawing of Archigram’s, ‘Plug-In City’ project (1963-4)

PHOTO by Mark Robbins

2011-07-27T22:54:00.005+02:00

This Friday July 22 the FAED lecture series, and also the arcbox gallery will host the public lecture and the exhibition PHOTOPLAY, by Mark Robbins.

The Dean of the School of Architecture of Syracuse University, will come to visit us. His lecture and exhibition will show a collection of images of around the world and will drive us trough the global domestic spaces.See you all this friday at 4.30 pm at FAED building.

CINEMA: CITY OF GOD,and the role of urbanism and architecture in the development of a society

2011-07-27T22:52:00.000+02:00

City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) is a 2002 Brazilian Film released in its home country in 2002 and worldwide in 2003. All the characters existed in reality, and the story is based on real events. It depicts different stories of the inhabitants of the favela Cidade de deus in Rio de janeiro, between the end of the ’60s and the beginning of the ’80s. How the environment influences the growth of crime. How the urban fabric, and the architectural design is influenced and influences social relations and networks within neighbors and affect the life of the human beings is a key aspect to learn from.

CREATIVE EYE EXHIBITION

2011-07-01T07:36:00.000+02:00

This week the arcbox has hosted the Creative Design’s exhibition on the students’ best work .CREATIVE EYE featured works of Painting, Photography, Print Techniques and Free Hand Drawing. It was open till the end of this week. I hope you came and experienced the artwork from the Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design, we encourage you to give us your opinion, Here you can see some pictures of the works!

OPENING DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION: 1ST2011

2011-06-27T22:45:00.002+02:00

The past Friday, June 24^th 2011, the semester’s exhibition series were inaugurated, with the previous semester‘s best works. 1^st 2011 was the name of the event that hosted design studio’s projects from all years.

The students housing in KIST campus, developed by the third year’s was represented by the work of the teams composed by: Jean de Dieu and Lambert and Thierry and Aloys.

The second year’s presented a Public Library project with works of Jean PAUL BIGIRIMANA, Flavia GWIZA and Emmanuel HAVUGIMANA

The first year design studio was represented by the works of KAYIJUKA eric,NDAYAMBAJE J.damascene,AMAHORO eunyce,Olga,JMV,Fatumah,Vianey,Victor and Aziz.

The exhibition was a huge success and students were amazed about the work of their colleagues, that encouraged them to improve and work harder in further studios.

This was a good starting point for the exhibition series we hope to keep it up and see more works in future events!

LECTURE: LEARNING FROM MOMBASA

2011-06-25T22:46:00.000+02:00

This semester the 3rd year students of architecture went to Mombasa, with the scope to develop a research on the Swahili architecture. The department of architecture has organized this Traveling studio to learn from the urban fabric and the Swahili architecture of the sea port city. The learning outcomes of the trip were the starting point to develop the second semester project. The program of a building inserted in a rich preexisting context, with a rich religious and cultural heritage of an UNESCO metropolitan landscape, it has to learn from a sustainable local construction, shifting ecologies and varied civic and community environment.

Once back home, third year design studio organized a public lecture for Kist staff, FAED students and some outside guests. The presentation was focused in the trip, the perceptions and sensations of its protagonists and on architectural concepts.

The leit motive were the preliminary studies on 3 specific sites that will be further developed during the semester during design studio. The students shared their experiences and learning outcomes had during the week of the trip.

Vice rector Academics, Prof. John S. Mshana took time to attentively see the students work, and he kindly appreciated both faculty staff and students for the good presentations exhibited.

The introduction and guidance of Prof.Tomà Berlanda drive the audience throughout the trip and gave them the atmosphere of the trip, some entertaining stories and information took during the travel.

All students who spoke on behalf of their colleagues took time to shear their experiences in terms of architecture and social life. The third year’s also shared their impressions taken from different population, landscapes and cities along the three different eastern African countries crossed (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania).

As FAED students, we want to thank KIST administration for the continued support rendered to us.

OPENING OF 2ND SEMESTER ARCBOX EXHIBITION SERIES

2011-06-01T22:42:00.000+02:00

The arcbox, a ship container reconverted into the gallery for the Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design of Rwanda, was first inaugurated on March, 24^th 2011. The purpose of this reinvented space is to provide students of FAED and KIST, as well as the community in Kigali with a place to foster creativity, innovation and architectural culture.

From now on, the Architecture Lecture Series students will be responsible of keeping it alive. Every Friday a new exhibition will start, that will last for one or two weeks.

WORKSHOP: STREETSCAPE, KIGALI

2011-05-29T17:00:00.000+02:00

In May 2011, during the 2 weeks period between semesters at KIST (9th-20th May), FAED (faculty of architecture and environment design) in collaboration with the Kigali City planning, organized a workshop ‘Kigali streetscape workshop’, which the realization might be refunded by the Kigali City planning.
The workshop was envisioned to survey the area between the Centreville roundabout and KIST campus, seek out and research applicable precedents, and finally, propose a design that could help to define a new face for Kigali along the Avenue de la revolution, or propose a variety of viable and applicable streetscape alternatives that could implemented here or in other parts of the city.
This workshop proposes that a street can be designed to support the various aspirations through manipulation of traffic, integration of transport systems, programming of sidewalks to include areas of passive and active recreation, leisure, or commerce, and through landscaping/street furnishing to support this programming.

The rethinking of the streetscape of the Avenue de la revolution was posed as a problem for research and design by the Kigali city planning, actively seeking the input of the faculty and students of the department of architecture, in the faculty of architecture and environment design. During this workshop, the studio meets different guests to help them to develop the design; Donna Rubinoff – director of Kigali center for the urban planning, Lama Mugabo, Tim Hall.

12 students in the department of architecture was involved in this workshop; Ntigulirwa Marie Amelie, Mpfizi Richard, Nyilimana Lambert, Murwanashyaka Shaffy Assouman, Nshimiyimana Aloys, Ntayoberwa Eric, Bigirimana Jean Paul, Twizerimana Alain Yves, Uzabakiriho Jean Jaul, Nduwamungu Darius, Kayeye Patrick, Isabane René
And 3 instructors was involved; Toma Berlanda, Nerea Amorós Elorduy, Sierra Bainbridge.