Mariam Kamara on the higher aspirations of African architects
[...] Kamara is mounting a quietly radical revolt against the “Western dictatorship over our space,” which still insists that African architects should only build clinics and rural schools, never addressing higher aspirations. For Kamara, that attitude is not just constraining, it’s an affront to the humanity of the place she comes from and the people for whom she builds. She prefers instead “to elevate lived experience,” to “dare to do something that would make someone dream.”The New York Times in conversation with Mariam Kamara, the founder of Niger/Rhode Island-based architecture and research practice atelier masōmī. Hikma Religious and Secular Complex in Dadaji, Niger by atelier masōmī + Studio Chahar. Photo: James Wang, Mariama Kah.Among other distinctions, Kamara was one of the 2017 LafargeHolcim Middle East + Africa Award winners, David Adjaye's 2018-19 Rolex Arts Initiative protégée, a Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture nominee, the 2019 Prince Claus Award laureate, and more recently, announced as a participant for the 17th Architecture Biennale in Venice.
[...] Kamara is mounting a quietly radical revolt against the “Western dictatorship over our space,” which still insists that African architects should only build clinics and rural schools, never addressing higher aspirations. For Kamara, that attitude is not just constraining, it’s an affront to the humanity of the place she comes from and the people for whom she builds. She prefers instead “to elevate lived experience,” to “dare to do something that would make someone dream.”
The New York Times in conversation with Mariam Kamara, the founder of Niger/Rhode Island-based architecture and research practice atelier masōmī.
Among other distinctions, Kamara was one of the 2017 LafargeHolcim Middle East + Africa Award winners, David Adjaye's 2018-19 Rolex Arts Initiative protégée, a Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture nominee, the 2019 Prince Claus Award laureate, and more recently, announced as a participant for the 17th Architecture Biennale in Venice.
