Nzinga Bi

I am very happy to announce that our documentary „The Red and the Grey Matter“ is now online at DW. Together with @rainertraube I went deep into the scene of modern earth architecture in West Africa and created a 54 minute feature in seven chapters. For more then 5 years we witnessed the creation of the new @goetheinstitut_seneg by @kerefrancis . We were present at the pivoting @labiennale in Venezia, curated by the visionary @lesleylokko . And just drew very close to the astonishing architects that dare to build with raw earth. For me it was an amazing journey, which made me a better director and cameraman. The film is out now in German and in English - links are in my bio. A French version follows in a couple of days. ————————————————————————————— We would love to thank a whole lot of people that were instrumental to create this film. First and foremost the amazing architects Francis Kéré @kerearchitecture , Nzinga Mboup @nzingabm , Nicolas Rondet @nrarchi , Mariam Issoufou @mariamissoufouk , David Adjaye @adjayeassociates , Lesley Lokko @lesleylokko , Doudou Deme @uddu51 and Rebuild.ing @rebuild.ing.group . But also contributors and supporters on many other important stages like Johannes Ebert @johannes_ebert_ , Marc-André Schmachtel @marcandre_schmachtel , Philip Küppers @philipkueppers , Armelle Choplin @armelle.choplin , Caroline Geffriaud @c.g.archi , Seraina Robino-Diatta @seraina_robinodiatta , Neo Maditla, Philipp Meuser @philipp_meuser , Limbo Accra @limboaccra , Susanne Lenz-Gleissner @susaspring2020 , Carole Diop @carolediop and many more. Hope you enjoy the film. Thank you for your patience and support.

For the past four years my colleague @rainertraube and me have been shooting a documentary about an emerging class of African architects, who build culturally and climatically conscious with raw earth and passive ventilation. We have been witnessing @lesleylokkos Architecture Biennale in Venice which brought this movement into the western consciousness. And we have been following the construction of the new Goethe-Institute in Dakar, Senegal, by the hands of Pritzker Prize winner Francis Kéré. Our documentary “The Red and Gray Matter” will premiere in April and will be broadcasted on DW. One of the main protagonists of this documentary is the amazing Cameroonian/ Sengegalese architect @nzingabm Nzinga Mboup. Together with Nicolas Rondet @nrarchi and their wonderful Collectif @worofila they have been doing great work in Dakar and were recently assigned to create the rainforest gallery at the MOWAA in Benin City. Nzinga has also been making a mark with her research and curatorial work, among others with the @canadiancentreforarchitecture and is a founding member of Black Females in Architecture. I am very happy that an excerpt from our documentary about Nzinga Mboup is part of the current edition of Afrimaxx at DW. You can watch it worldwide on your telly and stream it online. Link is in the bio. Thank you Nzinga and Nicolas for your trust and your great constribution to architecture. And to Daniela Schulz and Susanne Lenz-Gleissner at DW.

« Ce qui permet aux gens de bien vivre dans le projet, c’est d’avoir des protections solaires. La façade et l’orientation permettent d’obtenir le confort. Chaque façade est un projet; lorsqu’on est devant, on ressent quelque chose; on sent que ce n’est pas ordinaire. Avec une façade ordinaire, lisse, on serait obligés de mettre des rideaux et la clim. » Cette semaine, Nzinga B. Mboup ( @nzingabm ), commissaire du programme CCA c/o Dakar, partage avec nous un résumé et des extraits d’un événement qu’elle a organisé à Dakar en novembre dernier consacré à une série de bâtiments conçus par la première génération d’architectes du Sénégal. Axé sur l’oeuvre de Cheikh Ngom, Cheikh Ndiaye et Abdoulaye Emile Diouf, cet événement a été l’occasion de réfléchir aux méthodologies et aux matérialités qui ont façonné l’architecture sénégalaise moderne. Lisez « La production architecturale des architectes du Sénégal » via le lien en bio. - “What allows people to live well in the project is having solar protection. The façade and the orientation make comfort possible. Each façade is a project; when you’re in front of it, you feel something, you feel that it’s not ordinary. With an ordinary, smooth façade, you’d be forced to put in curtains and air conditioning.” This week, Nzinga B. Mboup ( @nzingabm ), curator of the CCA c/o Dakar program, shares details of an event hosted in Dakar last November that highlighted buildings designed by the first generation of Senegalese architects. Focusing on the work of Cheikh Ngom, Cheikh Ndiaye, and Abdoulaye Emile Diouf, the event offered an opportunity to reflect on the methodologies and materialities that shaped modern Senegalese architecture. Read “The Architectural Production of Senegalese Architects” via the link in bio. - Images: 1. Le bâtiment du Contrôle Financier. Photographie de Ismael Sow © Ismael Sow 2. Perspective du bâtiment du Contrôle Financier. © Archives Cheikh Ndiaye

Souple et informel, CCA c/o est une série d’initiatives temporaires implantées localement dans différentes villes du monde, un outil pour dévoiler les enjeux d’intérêt général qui émergent dans des contextes différents du nôtre, une stratégie visant à identifier de nouvelles explorations thématiques et à joindre de nouvelles perspectives aux conversations en cours, et CCA c/o se veut une transformation expérimentale du CCA. Organisée dans le cadre du programme CCA c/o Dakar qui, sous la direction de Nzinga B. Mboup ( @nzingabm ), aborde l’architecture moderne Sénégalaise, « Écosystèmes, matériaux de construction et cultures architecturales » est une discussion qui vise à placer les processus d’extraction et de transformation des matériaux au cœur des décisions architecturales. La conversation réunissant Nzinga B. Mboup, Neba Sere, George Massoud, Cyan Cheng, et Stephanie Idongesit Été aura lieu au The Africa Centre ( @theafricacentre ) à Londres, le 6 novembre 2025. L’événement est gratuit, mais le nombre de place est limité. - Agile and informal, CCA c/o is a series of temporary initiatives that are locally anchored in different cities worldwide, a tool to reveal issues of general relevance that emerge from different contexts than our own, a strategy for defining new thematic explorations and adding new perspectives to ongoing conversations, and an experiment in transforming the CCA itself. Organized in the framework of the CCA c/o Dakar program curated by Nzinga B. Mboup ( @nzingabm ) and focusing on modernist Senegalese architecture, “Ecosystems, Building Materials, and Building Cultures” is a discussion that aims to place processes of extraction and transformation of materials at the heart of architectural decision-making. The talk reuniting Nzinga B. Mboup, Neba Sere, George Massoud, Cyan Cheng, and Stephanie Idongesit Ete will take place at The Africa Centre ( @theafricacentre ) in London, on 6 November 2025. The event is free of charge, but space is limited. - Image : Nzinga B. Mboup, Collage de matériaux de production en basalt, 2025 © CCA.

Architecture Week Lecture: Nzinga Mboup - Crafting an endogenous practice Date: Wednesday, 27 August 2025 Time: 17:30 for 18:00 – 20:00 Venue: GSA Home , JBS Park RSVP: See Linktree Nzinga Biegueng Mboup is a Senegalese architect who studied at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and obtained a master’s degree in Architecture at the University of Westminster in London. In 2019, she co-founded Worofila, a Dakar-based architectural practice specialized in bioclimatic architecture and construction using earth and other locally-sourced natural materials. Some of the practice most notable projects include Keru Mbuubenn, the Ngor Vertical House, the Labo x Fou Training Centre and the upcoming Rainforest Gallery of the MOWAA Campus in Nigeria. Nzinga is also active as a researcher and has made significant contributions to urban and cultural heritages studies in Dakar. Her two most notable research projects are Dakarmorphose which studied the evolution of the indigenous villages and interrogates the urban and cultural heritage of the city of Dakar, and Habiter Dakar an upcoming pulication focuses on the evolution and problematics of housing in Senegal. In 2023, Nzinga produced a film on earth architecture in Senegal, titled Bunt BAN that was exhibited at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. As of July 2023, Nzinga has begun a collaboration as a curator for the Canadian Centre for Architecture and leads ℅ Dakar, a 3-year research project investigating Senegalese architectural traditions. Following a transdisciplinary approach, the project aims to develop a portrait of Senegal’s first-generation architects, laying the ground to generate new forms of practice and building that respond to the changing environmental, urban, and social contexts of Senegal today. More recently, Nzinga has been appointed to teach an Advanced Architecture Design Studio over the summer of 2025 at Columbia University titled “Assessing Endogenous Building Practices”, investigating the architectural possibilities that centre materials and production systems that are local to the state of New York. #happeningatthegsa #unitsystemafrica

Architect Nzinga B. Mboup (@nzingabm ) practices in Senegal—a country where, according to World Bank estimates, only 7% of new buildings involve any sort of built environment professional. “Most people build to house themselves,” Mboup explained at The World Around Summit 2025. “So there’s this growing force of self-taught builders.” But owing to challenges in financing new construction, and the rapid expansion of cement production in Senegal since the 1950s, almost all these endeavours use the same low-cost, high-carbon material: concrete. “What’s ironic,” Mboup shared, “is that this industrial product is made from the same raw materials that, not long ago, produced a rich architectural tradition in Senegal.” Since summer 2023, Mboup has been studying this largely unarchived tradition with the @canadiancentreforarchitecture as the curator of CCA c/o Dakar, drawing on the knowledge of Senegal’s first generation of architects and artisans to develop a remarkable body of original research on the nation’s architectural heritage. Now, in an ongoing project with her practice, @worofila , Mboup is creating a space where that research can form the foundations of an alternative building culture. Located near Sébikotane—a town between Dakar and the city of Thiès—the Labo x Fou training center will serve as a site for hands-on experimentation with low-carbon construction methods from the Senegalese canon. A collage of sun-dried adobe, shuttered cob, and ceramics, the building will demonstrate “the various forms of construction that are possible with the earth’s materials,” while offering a space where the skills to realize those possibilities can be shared. “To move away from the carbon-intensive construction methods that dominate in Senegal toward practices that are less detrimental to the environment, knowledge must be made accessible where the building is happening. The hope is that people will take the lessons from our research and pass them on, to build a more sustainable future for themselves, and their communities.” Watch Mboup’s full presentation on The World Around YouTube channel. Link in bio🔗

Opening now the Workshop and Symposium „Decolonising Architectural Education” in Pavillon 333 with @molweny01 @nzingabm @abde_lilith @architekturmuseum_tum

Between her critical research into Senegal’s architectural heritage and a new sustainable construction training center, Summit speaker Nzinga Biegueng Mboup (@nzingabm ) is working towards a Senegalese architecture canon for the climate change era. Mboup is an architect, curator, and researcher, and co-founder of @worofila : a Dakar-based practice specializing in bioclimatic architecture using earth and other regional natural materials. Since summer 2023, the multi-hyphenate has been collaborating with the @canadiancentreforarchitecture to lead CCA c/o Dakar: a three-year research program investigating Senegal’s unarchived architectural heritage. Through an extraordinary body of original primary research, the project aims to develop a portrait of Senegal’s first-generation architects, laying the groundwork to generate new forms of practice and construction that respond to the changing environmental, urban, and social contexts of Senegal today. In Worofila’s ongoing Labo x Fou project, Mboup is putting these lessons into practice, using traditional materials and building methods to open a center for low-impact construction training and innovation. Located near the town of Sébikotane, the center will offer a site for these techniques to be tested and taught, aiming to democratize sustainable architecture for local people amid the country’s expansive urbanization. The World Around Summit 2025 will take place on Sunday, April 27 at New York’s @themuseumofmodernart , curated with the Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment. General admission tickets for The World Around Summit 2025 have now sold out! Join the waiting list or become a member of The World Around Circles to secure an in-person seat at the event. You can also register to watch the free event livestream. Link in @theworldaround ’s bio 🔗 #TWASummit2025 #ArchitecturesNowNearNext #MoMA #AmbaszInstitute #MoletniandC #Architecture #ArchitectureEvents #ArchitectureTalks #NzingaBMboup #Worofila

Rejoignez-nous le 9 novembre prochain pour le troisième événement public du programme CCA c/o Dakar lors de la Biennale de Dakar. En se concentrant sur les réalisations de quatre architectes issus de la première génération d’architectes sénégalais, la commissaire du CCA c/o Dakar, Nzinga B. Mboup, revisite les bâtiments et rencontre leurs architectes afin de comprendre leurs approches, leurs méthodologies, leurs choix de matérialité et l’articulation formelle de l’édifice. L’objectif est de commencer à définir les différentes déclinaisons du modernisme au Sénégal en questionnant directement les intentions de leurs auteurs, mais aussi en les plaçant dans un contexte plus large de production idéologique et matérielle. #CCA #canadiancentreforarchitecture #africanarchitecture #senegalesearchitecture

“What happens on Earth stays on Earth.” This Kendrick Lamar (@KendrickLamar ) lyric unexpectedly grounds a conversation between architect Nzinga Biegueng Mboup (@nzingabm ) and designer Seetal Solanki (@SeetalSolanki ). In a discussion moderated by Federica Sofia Zambeletti (@ZambeSmile ), they discuss the surprising fluidity of architectural materials, what locality can teach about sustainability, and how we might reacquaint ourselves with the indigenous knowledge systems of the landscapes in which we build and live. Nzinga Biegueng Mboup is a Dakar-based Senegalese architect, researcher, and mentor. In 2019, she co-founded Worofila (@Worofila ), an architectural practice specialized in bioclimatic design and construction using earth and biomaterials sourced locally to promote an architecture that is durable and in harmony with the climate. Nzinga has been a researcher for the African Futures Institute since 2022. Worofila is supported through re:arc institute’s Practice Lab. Seetal Solanki is a London-based materials designer, researcher and writer, and the Director and Founder of materials research design studio Ma-tt-er (@ma_tt_er ). Her work explores alternative methods of employing and implementing materials more responsibly across industry and education. Since 2017 she has taught at the Royal College of Art, London, (@rca.architecture ) with a focus on how materials can inform the identity of an interior space, helping navigation and providing a sense of purpose. Listen now at the link in bio. “Between Us” is presented by re:arc and KoozArch (@koozarch ). - “Lo que pasa en la Tierra se queda en la Tierra.” Esta letra de Kendrick Lamar inesperadamente crea una conversación sobre sostenibilidad y encarnación entre la arquitecta Nzinga Biegueng Mboup y la diseñadora Seetal Solanki. En una discusión moderada por Federica Zambeletti, las dos discuten la sorprendente fluidez de los materiales arquitectónicos, cómo la localidad de un material puede enseñarnos sobre sostenibilidad y cómo podríamos volver a familiarizarnos con los sistemas de conocimiento indígena de los paisajes en los que construimos y vivimos. Escucha en inglés en el enlace en bio.

LANCEMENT DU C/O DAKAR avec le CCA LE 18 MAI. Depuis Juillet 2023, j’ai entrepris une collaboration avec le Centre Canadien d’Architecture (CCA) pour produire une série de programmes publics et de projets de recherche à Dakar dans un programme appelé c/o Dakar, qui s‘intéresse à l’architecture moderne sénégalaise, ses protagonistes et ses histoires. La première phase de ce projet activera l‘histoire de l’École d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Dakar (1973-1991) en revisitant ses projets, et archives en tant que modes de production de savoirs et de recherches. #theoffison

How i am stepping into the new year 🙏🏾 Photo by @sumi_v