http://www.anzastart.com ANZA Magazine Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:54:16 +0000 http://www.anzastart.com en http://www.anzastart.com/VIDEO http://www.anzastart.com/following/anzastart.com/VIDEO Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:54:16 +0000 ANZA Magazine 2155446 Video Dairy 2: ANZA explores buildings in Dar ANZA Magazine takes to the streets of what could be Africa's next megacity, Dar-es-Salaam, and explores the buildings the dominate its sky Video Dairy 1: ANZA takes to the streets ANZA Magazine goes on the streets to find out what people love most, and dislike most about Africa's next potential megacity, Dar-es-Salaam. Anza Team interviews During the final week of the production of Anza #1 the team were interviewed by Leila Peacock on backgrounds, what a magazine should mean and how they felt about the future of it. Video Dairy 2: ANZA explores buildings in Dar ANZA Magazine takes to the streets of what could be Africa's next megacity, Dar-es-Salaam, and explores the buildings... http://www.anzastart.com/CALL-FOR-PAPERS http://www.anzastart.com/following/anzastart.com/CALL-FOR-PAPERS Sat, 22 Dec 2012 06:12:52 +0000 ANZA Magazine 2103339 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103339/ANZA3-cfp_2048.jpg" width="848" height="1200" width_o="848" height_o="1200" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103339/ANZA3-cfp_o.jpg" data-mid="24875347" border="0" align="left"/> http://www.anzastart.com/FEATURED-ARTICLES http://www.anzastart.com/following/anzastart.com/FEATURED-ARTICLES Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:31:33 +0000 ANZA Magazine 2102542 Anza Magazine: the first East African architecture magazine Article by Leila Peacock: A visual artist with a masters in literature. Her work spans several mediums and disciplines including essays, performance, lectures, drawing, video and book making. Like many of the major African cities the lively port of Dar Es Salaam is growing at an unprecedented rate, as a result it suffers from terrible traffic congestion, illegal construction, large scale informal settlements which in turn place huge strain on systems unable to cope with the growth – power supply, sewage and water networks. Unsightly high-rises are being thrown up, towers of air-conditioned glass that give no heed to sustainability despite government stipulations, palms are being greased and somebody is getting rich. This is a shame, as the state of Tanzania had such strong and healthy socialist beginnings under the leadership of the much revered Nyerere, it is one of the few African democracies to have avoided major internal conflict. The National Housing Association is still the largest landowner in the city by far, but no longer seems to be operating in the ‘national’ interest. Listening to these politicians speak, one feels almost giddy at the endless empty yet bombastic rhetoric, prefabricated crowd-pleasing slogans repeated to the point of meaninglessness, its strangely exhausting to listen to and has made many feel that confronting the administration feels like running through wet concrete, you don’t get very far before you get stuck. But out of this complex matrix of corruption has emerged a strong clear voice in the form of a group of architecture students from Ardhi University in Dar Es Salaam, who felt that that there was real need for a publication that would act as a platform for critical reflection on the situation. In October of this year, in collaboration with Swiss architecture magazine Camenzind, they produced the first East African architecture magazine – in under a month. When asked whether they thought the role of African architects is different to that of European architects the majority of them answered that as well as the practical and artistic role of an architect, they saw that a primary concern for them was to define their own role, to literally teach people outside of formal education (of which there are many) what an architect is and how architects can help them to use their city. In this sense they decided that the magazine should not be directed at other architects so much as at the layman; it was very important to them that the magazine span a series of roles as an educational platform, a source of information for decision-makers, a forum for the exchange of opinions and ideas, and a place where innovative solutions to recurring problems are proffered and discussed. The first issue was printed in an edition of 5000 and given away free throughout the city. At one point the students wandered through a typical traffic jam distributing the magazine to people stuck in their cars. The first issue of Anza Magazine (‘start’ in Swahili) includes a history of the local architecture, a discussion of the city’s current position, poised as it is between competing pressure from industry and tourism. There is an interview with a local cab driver juxtaposed with papers by international academics that provide parallels with other African cities; namely the development catastrophe in Adis Ababba and the new strategies now in place, and the rise in Rwanda of what is being called ‘the landscape city’. As might be expected, the discussion of the relative merits of informal cities over formal ones raises its head in many of these articles. There are also interviews with local architectural stars, two die-hard East African modernists in their 90s; pioneers of the push to formalize architecture and the creators of several of Dar Es Salaam’s most distinctive landmarks. They were gracious enough to make themselves available to students who had never conducted interviews before; it is hard to imagine that happening in Europe, but in a city where there are 300 registered architects as opposed to 10,000 these things are more possible. In this sense there are both more and less possibilities for them in contrast to the West. It might not have the finesse of most architectural publications, it is printed on old new-print machines, many of the students are just learning to use the design programs that are involved, the English is not always perfect, but the will is strong, the intentions are clear and you can almost smell the determination rising off the page; and as such is represents an extremely promising start, hopefully the start of something great. THE STORY OF THE BOY FROM TANGANYIKA WHO WENT TO ISRAEL TO STUDY ARCHITECTURE By KANYWANYI Kanywanyi S. BEDA AMULI <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2102542/Beda edit_2048.jpg" width="1200" height="960" width_o="1200" height_o="960" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2102542/Beda edit_o.jpg" data-mid="10823336" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2102542/IMG_1711_2048.jpg" width="1200" height="780" width_o="1200" height_o="780" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2102542/IMG_1711_o.jpg" data-mid="10792567" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2102542/DSCF4861_2048.jpg" width="1200" height="900" width_o="1200" height_o="900" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2102542/DSCF4861_o.jpg" data-mid="10811699" border="0" align="left"/> The first African in East Africa and Central Africa to start a private architectural practice 1969 in Tanzania and 1973 in Kenya had the honor of being the first Chairman of The Architectural Association of Tanzania of which he is still an active member. 
Amuli recalls “the idea to become an architect initially came to me in the form of engi- neering”. When he was in standard eleven at St. Andrew’s college, Minaki, now Minaki secondary school, there was a Greek contractor who was constructing buildings for a Health Centre and medical school, his work inspired Amuli to be an engineer. In 1957 when they were preparing for their final exams for the Cambridge School Certificate his British mathematics, teacher Ms. Leeson persuaded him to study Architecture if he did well in his exams, because he was very good in Geometry. So while filling career forms, his first choice was Architecture. After doing well in his Cambridge School Certificate, he was the first and only African student to be selected from Tanganyika for Architecture at The Royal Technical college of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. His 1st year Architectural class at The Royal Technical col- lege of East Africa had eight students of which five were from Tanganyika, namely Arch. Mohamed Sumar, Joe Colaco, Jaghder Singh, Peter Rowlands and Beda Amuli himself. All of them were sponsored by the government of Tanganyika. “It was therefore when we started our 1st year I came to know what Architecture was! Thanks to Ms. Leeson, my Maths teacher at Minaki” he says. While Beda Amuli was in his 2nd year, TANU came up with an offer for a scholarship in Architecture at Technion, Israel’s institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. Beda Amuli who was 21 years old at the time became the pioneer for the program as there was no other African with the right qualifications except him at the Royal technical college, so he won the scholarship and went to Israel with the help of TANU. There he enrolled in a full-time degree course in Architecture at the Technion in 1960. For this chance, he today thanks the late TANU Youth League Leader Joseph Nyerere, who facilitated him receiving the scholarship against the will of the colonial director of Technical Education. His admission to the Technion was historical for the fact that it was the first time an African was enrolled at this university with over 4000 students in twelve engineering fac- ulties, founded in 1922. He was the first African student to study in Hebrew, after studying Hebrew for eight months before starting his studies at Technion in October, 1960. Amuli would tell curious campus visitors that he was not sure how good an architect he would be when he returned home, but he was confident he would be the only Hebrew-speaker in the country. He mastered the language, in addition to his knowledge of English and his native tongue, Swahili. He was admitted to 2nd year B. Arch, a degree program lasting five years. On completion of his third year in 1962, he was selected for a world students exchanges program to work with the Dutch Railways Architectural office in Utrecht, Holland, for
the summer holidays. After finishing his fourth year he worked with Zevet International Architects, Tel Aviv, for the whole summer before going back to finish his 5th year at the Technion. Zevet had by then got the Kilimanjaro Hotel project in Dar es Salaam so they offered for him to join them after finishing his finals in June 1964. In October 1964 they posted him to Dar es Salaam and he became their resident associate in Tanzania. ‘He was not sure how good an architect he would be when he returned home, but he was confident he would be the only Hebrew-speaking architect in Tanganyika’ A large percentage of people in Tanzania don’t know what Architecture is or what it is really about. People, even professionals who should have an idea about what it is, sometimes calls architects ‘architectures’, as a mark of their confusion over what an architect really is. An architect (literally ‘the master builder’) is accorded the appropriate respect in many countries but over shadowed in Tanzania.
Apart from understanding Architecture, there is often very little awareness of the people who are supposed to be an inspiration for the new generations; little awareness of the people who have contributed most to the profession of Architecture in this country. How can these pioneers of architectural practice in Tanzania be an inspiration to new generations if so little of their story is known? WHO IS BEDA AMULI? Beda Jonathan Amuli, born on 27th May, 1938 at Machombe village, Masasi, Mtwara region in Tanzania, was the first indigenous African to be registered as an architect in 1966, he was also registered in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. He was the first to sit on the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors and he also had the honor of being the first Chairman of this board after the 1997 act. As The first commission for his private practice in 1969 was the TANU YOUTH LEAGUE COMMERCIAL PROJECT. It was a ten storey complex on the site where the MAFUTA House Complex now stands (Azikiwe street). It did not take off due to funds but they were paid for the work done. “That was the opening funds for B.J. Amuli Architects” he says. 
KARIAKOO MARKET PROJECT(above) The previous site had a building of steel structures, a military camp which was called Carrier Co – a British carriers company. When this company left the building, the building was used as a market but later it became very dilapidated. In the beginning of 70’s the city council thought of developing the market. Amuli says when he got the project he was delighted, a city engineer interviewed him and he showed him some sketches of a market from Israel and he explained to him how the dynamics of the market worked; he had done a market project as his fourth year project when he was in Israel and there he had done some research for the project: “although the market was not exactly as the market is now,, this student idea gave me a guideline to design a real African market”. The concept he developed was based on traditional a African market. He says: “An African market is normally under trees, so we made trees from concrete”. Talking on the project brief he says the client (the city council) had no idea what they wanted, but since he had done research on markets before this he had a clear vision what should be built. For this reason he insists that city councils and other institutions should have in-house architects who understand their needs and who can brief project architects, otherwise the building will not satisfy user needs.
He made sketches and they were approved by the city council at Karimjee hall. Engineers Gordon Melvin and Partners made structures for him and he told them that the structure would be a parabolic hyperbola so it must be done properly, the engineers made a model of the roof structure for him, once he was satisfied he started to design the market. The council wanted it built as quickly as possible and they offered the construction contract to Mecco without tendering it. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE For Zevet, Beda Amuli was in charge of supervising the construction of the Kilimanjaro Hotel Project 1965, the Co-op centre building project 1965-1966, and the NDC Headquarters 1967, he also selected the Ngororo Wildlife Lodge site 1966, the Mikumi wildlife Lodge site 1966, and mafia Fishing Lodge site 1967. Other projects he carried out under Zevet were Seaview Flats for Tanzania Railway corpora- tion 1966 and several private houses. Towards the end of 1968, there was some misunderstanding among the senior partners and he feared he would be caught between them, so he decided to step aside, he submitted his resignation to all three senior partners and left Zevet in February, 1969.
After this he started his private practice as the sole proprietor. He also opened another private practice in Nairobi in Sunglora House, Tom Mboya street in 1973. When travelling became difficult as a result of the break-up of the East Africa community he had to wind down the Nairobi office in 1982. OTHER PROJECTS Amuli’s other projects include The NBC training college now Ruaha university, this is
one of his favorite projects because the whole campus has his design. Also The Institute of Finance Management (IFM), Dar es salaam, the master plan of Mzumbe university, a hall of residence for The University of Dar es salaam, CCM Regional Headquarters – Moshi, most of the regional NBC buildings as well as the Co-operative Union headquarters in dif- ferent regions. He has done more than eighty projects as the sole project architecht; includ- ing churches, mosques, godowns for milling corporations, factories, warehouses, NHC buildings, CRDB buildings, Schools, Hotels, Post offices, NSSF buildings and several private houses including the Family house of President J. M. Kikwete- Bagamoyo. Projects under B.J. Amuli Architects Partnership
Amuli’s partnership has built the NSSF Regional Headquarters Building and conference Hall, Kigoma; several offices and laboratories for water basins for The Ministry of Water and Irrigation; also The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs building; The National Institute of Accountancy lecture theatre and office-building; MOI extensions; and The Ministry of Health Welfare Building, Zanaki street, Dar es Salaam.
Beda Amuli is still practising from his office B.J. Amuli Architects which has been on
the roof garden floor of the Co-op centre building, Lumumba street, Dar es Salaam, since 1969. In 2007 he decided to go into partnership with the architect N. Alute under B.J. Amuli Architects Partnership, after this he decided to take a low profile. He has eight children and six grand children (none are architects!).
Amuli expressed his displeasure with the ‘Public Procurement Act’, he says in the field
of architecture, architects are supposed to be commissioned and not to tender for their projects, he says this system leads to corruption chaos in architectural practice since some architects resort to bribes to get contracts:“things started going wrong after architects and quantity surveyors were grouped with construction companies in the Building Contractors Act. However, consolation came in form of the 1997 ‘Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act’. But here again before long we were hindered by the Public Procurement Act”. Amuli thinks that stakeholders especially AAT should analyze this situation and seek a better way forward.
In the context of the 50th anniversary of independence, Amuli is not pleased with how things have been going in urban planning, architecture and the construction industry in general. He is very concerned by the issue of antiquities which have been destroyed for
the construction of new buildings. He also says the city now has few sports facilities; open spaces are developed for other uses so the city lacks enough gardens and open spaces in general; he says a lot of things are mis-allocated, residential plots have been allocated in places that were not allowed and the same applies to industrial buildings.
He also talked about the issue of investors who come with their designs from abroad.
In his view local architects are not to blame for these ‘glass jungles’. He complains that sometimes these designs are not suitable for the climate; he says these foreign architects are here for a short period of time but the buildings they bring remain for a long period of time. Maintenance of these buildings will be much more expensive if foreign architects have to be brought in from abroad, whereas a local architect would be able to go by foot; he sees this as a cost which is unnecessary and hopes the AAT will address this. Amuli is optimistic however that things will improve and that local architects will come through.
Amuli also advises that buildings should employ full-time in-house engineers to take care of them, for which he cites the examples of the Kariakoo market and Kilimanjaro Hotel, both of which used to have in-house engineers. This is the story of the boy from Tanganyika who went to Israel to study architecture against the odds. Who now knows how good an archi- tect he has been, which he could never have known back in Israel: “I have done quite a lot in my practice” he muses.
In a continuation of Amuli’s own comments on the subject; if the system doesn’t value architects in the way that it should, how can society value them? In particular, there is a failure by the government to reach, survey and service an area before people come to reside there; and a failure to recognize the vital role of architects in this process. After these people reach these areas they just develop their plots without regulations and without architects, they don’t think about utility, they don’t realise that they need architects to reconcile for and function. They therefore find a fundi (mason, usually un-skilled) to build it, and its done!
Amuli is right, the AAT, Ministry of works, Ministry of Lands and Human Settlements Development should collaborate and seek a better way forward, people must be made more aware of of what architecture really is, what it can do for them, and its role in society. God bless Africa, God bless Tanzania! Shown above Kariakoo Market Beda Amuli (left) with his room-mate, the American Daniel Litwin, 1960 Architect Beda Amuli at his home Anza Magazine: the first East African architecture magazine Article by Leila Peacock: A visual artist with a masters in literature. Her work spans several mediums... http://www.anzastart.com/GALLERY http://www.anzastart.com/following/anzastart.com/GALLERY Wed, 30 May 2012 15:02:47 +0000 ANZA Magazine 2104277 EAST AFRICA:The heart of ANZA <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/R1014793_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/R1014793_o.jpg" data-mid="10613339" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1470_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1470_o.jpg" data-mid="10613348" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/R1014769.jpg" width="600" height="800" width_o="600" height_o="800" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/R1014769_o.jpg" data-mid="10613362" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0441_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0441_o.jpg" data-mid="10613379" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0446_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0446_o.jpg" data-mid="10613406" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0487_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0487_o.jpg" data-mid="10613435" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0450_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0450_o.jpg" data-mid="10613455" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0458_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0458_o.jpg" data-mid="10613460" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1389_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1389_o.jpg" data-mid="10613474" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1471_2048.jpg" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1471_o.jpg" data-mid="10613501" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1697_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1697_o.png" data-mid="10630065" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/DSC00636_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/DSC00636_o.png" data-mid="10630070" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/DSC00661_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/DSC00661_o.png" data-mid="10630074" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0430.png" width="600" height="800" width_o="600" height_o="800" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_0430_o.png" data-mid="10630076" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1356_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/IMG_1356_o.png" data-mid="10630078" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/SAM_0745_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/SAM_0745_o.png" data-mid="10630307" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/SAM_0687_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/SAM_0687_o.png" data-mid="10630310" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/SAM_0587_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2104277/SAM_0587_o.png" data-mid="10630321" border="0" align="left"/> Fullscreen EAST AFRICA:The heart of ANZA http://www.anzastart.com/THE-BIRTH-OF-ANZA http://www.anzastart.com/following/anzastart.com/THE-BIRTH-OF-ANZA Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:36:59 +0000 ANZA Magazine 2103542 About the workshop Launching East Africa architectural magazine 9/19/2011 - 10/16/2011 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/IMG_1769_2048.png" width="800" height="600" width_o="800" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/IMG_1769_o.png" data-mid="10633485" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/R1014820.JPG" width="670" height="502" width_o="670" height_o="502" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/R1014820_o.JPG" data-mid="10633685" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/R1015090.JPG" width="670" height="502" width_o="670" height_o="502" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/R1015090_o.JPG" data-mid="10633694" border="0" align="left"/> According to the UN, the African continent is due to experience an immense population growth during the 21st century with its population more than tripling from one Billion to 3.6 Billion. Most of this population growth will take place in cities. Among the world’s 20 fastest growing urban areas, nine are located in Africa, with Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s biggest city, in the top ranks. An annual 130.000 people will move to Dar es Salaam each year. With the vision of creating a platform for discourse on the transforming cities of East Africa, Camenzind (an Association based in Zurich) launched a workshop: “East Africa’s first architectural magazine: Camenzind goes East Africa,” that would produce an architectural magazine following the development of the region’s metropolis’. The aim of the workshop was both to produce the first issue of such a magazine, as well as establish a team that would sustain a biannual publication. The workshop participants were a team of university students and recent graduates with interdisciplinary backgrounds in architecture, planning, and engineering; coordinated by experts from Tanzania and Switzerland. Being that Dar es Salaam is in the top ranks in terms of growth, it was chosen as the suitable city to pilot the magazine - launching discussion on development in the region. The workshop was conducted in “Ebrahim 1937,” a historically elegant building, built in 1937 (as the name suggests) and the pavilion at the Goethe Institute in Upanga (many thanks!). For more information please visit the Camenzind East Africa website. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/prt_220x218_1314707423.jpg" width="220" height="218" width_o="220" height_o="218" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/4/145015/2103542/prt_220x218_1314707423_o.jpg" data-mid="10655295" border="0" align="left"/> Facilitators Jeanette Beck is board member of Camenzind and worked as a scientific assistant at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, focussing on transdisciplinarity, virtual collaboration and architecture mediation. She now works for the City of Berne. Benedikt Boucsein is board member of Camenzind, partner at BHSF Architects and assistant at the ETH Zurich. After studying and working in Aachen, Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich, he completed his PhD at ETH Zurich in 2008. Vinesh Chintaram is an architect working in Mauritius, trained in Paris and Dresden. Besides his practice in Mauritius, he takes a leading role in several organizations that cater for ecologic and philanthropic matters. William Davis is a British designer living and working in Berlin. He graduated from Bristol School of Art & Design and Rotterdam WDKA in 2009. In January 2011 he set up his own practice alongside the office Basics09 in Berlin. Florian Graf lives and works in Berlin, London and Basel. In his work, he engages with specific architectural and social situations, creating places of poetic density where imagination and reverie are bleeding into reality. Axel Humpert studied architecture in Graz and Zurich. He is board member of Camenzind and partner at BHSF Architects. Besides his practical work he regularly teaches or acts as a guest critic. Robert Karashani was Chief Sub-Editor of Thisday from 2007-2010 and has worked as a Journalist since 1986 nationally and internationally for The Express, The Eastafrican The African and Thisday. Sonja Lüthi studied architecture at TU Delft and ETH Zurich. She works as a freelance journalist in Zurich and for TEC21, Tracés and Archi. She conceptualized and realized diverse publications and events for the Bern University of Applied Sciences. Mwanzo Milinga is a photographer educated in Uganda, Norway, Sweden and Tanzania. He has exhibited in Africa and Europe. He co-founded the „Tanzania Learning Centre“ and is member of the „Flame Tree Media Trust“. Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala is News Editor and leader of the editorial board of Media Solutions Limited which publishes "Thisday" and "Kulikoni". He also serves as the Thomson Reuters-correspondent for Tanzania. Leila Peacock’s work spans several mediums and disciplines. A practicing visual artist with a masters in literature. To date, her work has manifested itself in essays, performance, lectures, drawing, video and book making. Benedikt Redmann is a freelance Photographer focusing on architectural photography. He has worked as a draughtsman for the architect Peter Zumthor and completed his course as a photographer at ZHDK Zurich. Tim Seidel studied architecture in Darmstadt and Zurich. He is board member of Camenzind and partner at BHSF Architects. Andrea Züllig is a graphic designer based in Zurich, working freelance and in collaboration with David Clavadetscher. She studied at HGK Luzern and specializes on books, brochures, corporate design, posters and websites. Acknowledgements to: Annika Seifert, Gunter Klix, Ahmed Simba, and Mariam Ndabagenga About the workshop Launching East Africa architectural magazine 9/19/2011 - 10/16/2011 According to the UN, the African...