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Afrofuturism in Architecture

Updated: Jun 17, 2021



Afrofuturism in architecture is a way to build from a mix of traditional construction materials and new materials developed specifically to fit the African environment.

“Afrofuturism encapsulates an idea of an architecture that takes from African tradition as much as from the existing conditions — the sheer intensity of the market and the street — while applying the layer of modernism for the postcolonial era in a cocktail of sci-fi utopian and dystopian elements. It could be Star Wars and District 9, but African.”

Let's review some fantastic projects that make the best use of Afrofuturism in architecture.




💰Akon city is singer Akon’s billion-dollar smart city project. With the goal of becoming the beacon of innovation and human development, Akon city will have its own cryptocurrency, it will run on clean energy, and will have an artificial data center. Its architecture is expected to follow a futuristic aesthetic to match the cutting-edge technology. Its construction is scheduled to start this year with the first phase finished by 2023.


💡Open spaces will have native trees and flowers planted along the lines of the constructed and drawn pathways. The pathways will be a reinterpretation of the human geometry of communication.



⛺️Cape Verde’s Floating Music Hub is based on the Makoko Floating System, an innovative floating building solution, created by Kunlé Adeyemi a Nigerian architect. [The hub will be made of three floating vessels consisting of a live performance hall, a recording studio and a food & beverage bar.] The hub will generate sustainable, ecological, alternative building systems and urban water cultures for the teeming population of Africa’s coastal regions. The completion of the project is scheduled for this year.

💡Cap Verde’s Floating Hub is the fourth being built. The first iteration of the concept was built in 2012 in Lagos, Nigeria.




🏛Niamey Cultural Center is a 59,000-square-foot structure that will provide a place for learning and dreaming, a place of levity that will draw its program from local community conversations about culture, traditions, and aspirations. The structure puts a strong accent on climate mitigation solutions and sustainable practices of using local materials, rainwater harvesting, and solar energy while allowing the continued use of the site as an urban agriculture hub.



💡The buildings of the structure will be built from raw-earth bricks, a local material in Niger because its color and texture make the buildings seem to grow from the ground.

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Sources:

akoncity.com/about/


robbreport.com/travel/destinations/akon-smart-city-senegal


nleworks.com/case/floating-music-hub/


ateliermasomi.com/niamey-cultural-center

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