Africa Call for entries for competition Blueprints of Paradise on African Architecture Arts, 7 Sep 2010

Africa is planning for the future. Some projects, like the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, affect the entire world. Others, like the works of Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, Doual’art, or the team of Takako Tajima and Aziza Chaouni, are locally focused. With Blueprints of Paradise, the Afrika Museum (Berg en Dal) and African Architecture Matters (Utrecht), two organizations based in The Netherlands, have recently launched a great and challenging competition in which the new generation of African architects, artists and visionairies are given the opportunity to present their thoughts and plans for the future of built Africa: Africa’s Next Top Model To turn Blueprints of Paradise into a successful event and to collect as many presentations as possible of future aspirations we are looking for as many participants as possible for this great and challenging competition.

Questions to consider are:
- What is the power of architecture in Africa?
- How can African spaces and buildings inspire the world?
- What specific qualities are important for the development of spaces in Africa (be it public, private or semi private?)
- How will African identity influence spaces and buildings in Africa and other parts of the world?
- What technology will influence African planning most? Is there a future for traditional techniques? Can tradition push innovation or will the planning of future Africa completely break with its traditional or colonial past?

The jury will select 25 entries that will be shown in the main exhibition hall of the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal (the Netherlands) from April - October 2011. The winning proposals will be selected by a specially composed jury consisting of 5 members. The panel includes: Manthia Diawara, Lesley Lokko, Joe Osae-Addo (chair), AbdouMaliq Simone, and Femke van Zeijl. The winners (three selected by the jury and the public’s favorite) will be invited to receive their prize at the opening of the exhibition in the Netherlands, April next year. In case one or more of the entries are suitable for temporary installation in the outdoor museum, this will be considered.
The competition is open to designers with an African background. This means that anyone from Africa or the African Diaspora areas aged 18 years or above can enter. Designs can be submitted until 15 October 2010.

Please register yourself and find more information at www.afrikamuseum.nl/blog

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