Reframing Architecture + Design in Africa

As an extension of the exhibition, Africa - Rethinking Architecture and Design, KADK will be presenting a series of open seminars, which will focus on the challenges and opportunities resulting from Africa’s economic and population booms. Concentrating on topics such as health, identity and urban development, we will discuss how architects and designers can come up with sustainable, innovative solutions in these areas.

There may be challenges facing sustainable development in Africa, but a wealth of architecture, urbanism and design projects are providing innovative solutions. 

Can collaborative mapping empower citizens to visualise and challenge urban failings? How does architecture affect the health of its inhabitants? Will design entrepreneurship revolutionise strategies of production and development? And how can we ensure this development is socially and environmentally sustainable? 

Join us for an exploration of the projects that are reframing the debate, ahead of the opening of the Africa: Rethinking Architecture and Design exhibition at 16.00. 

Guest speakers 
Remígio van Eys Chilaule is a Mozambican architect designing tools for collaborativemapping. His initiative MapMoz allows communities to record vulnerable regions in Mozambique, mapping areas of crime, inadequate waste collection or poor sanitation. Revealing these areas aims to inspire action and provoke change.

Professor Steve Lindsay is a public health entomologist at Durham University in the UK and Director of BOVA Network. He is an expert on some of the world's most critical vector-borne diseases and has spent 30 years working on the design of simple tools for malaria control, carrying out field studies across Africa.

Martin Østergård is a Senior Adviser at Oxfam’s Danish-Arab Partnership Program (DAPP). DAPP works to support young men and women through start-ups in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. 

Lene Ingvartsen is a Director at KVINFO - Denmark's knowledge and development center for gender, gender equality and diversity. She has extensive experience in women's rights and gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa. 

Grethe Weber is a textile designer at KADK, who in 2008 initiated the Academy’s ongoing collaboration with Moroccan cooperative Reseau Femmes Artisanes. The project is aimed at developing handcrafted Moroccan products for the international market, with a focus on design development, business management, and Moroccan cultural heritage.

Moderator Natalie Mossin specialises in the interaction between architecture, building technology and society. As Head of the Department of Building Arts and Technology at KADK, Chairman of the Danish Association of Architects and Council Member of the International Union of Architects, Natalie is a leading voice in setting the agenda for sustainable urbanism and architecture at both a strategic and political level.