CPDI AFRICA BLOG

To better understand the architectural practices of traditional African communities, our intern, Mary-Margaret Ben-Chioma, researched some of the customary land practices of traditional Nigerian communities. By understanding the relationship these people formed with the land, we at CPDI Africa believe we can understand the inspiration behind their architectural designs. We have prepared an explanation video for Mary’s findings below.

Nation 'Building' is the PASSION work of Designers, Planners, and Artists alike! Our work at CPDI AFRICA Global Studio for African-Centered Architecture is to inspire Visionary Master Planners and Nation Builders! EXPO 2024 @ CPDI AFRICA OPENS🌍 AFROCENTRIC PEDAGOGY, COURSES & WORKSHOPS 🌎 RESOURCE CENTER FOR GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS, AFROCENTRIC BOOKS & FILMS 🌎 ARCHITECTURE COMPETITIONS & EXHIBITIONS 🌎 AFRICAN & DIASPORA DESIGN PROJECTS 🌎  DOCUMENTARY REVIEWS, BOOK READINGS 🌎 INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS 🌎 EXCURSIONS & FIELD TRIPS 🌎      AFROCENTRIC MERCHANDISE!🌎 ******** ******* ******* ******** ********* ******** ********* ******** ********* ******** Follow this Space, Light up your Calendars - it's  Afrofuturism in Architecture & Beyond 2024! #Afrocentric #Afrofuturism #Architecture #AfricanDiaspora

It's Almost That Time CPDI AFRICA Family and Friends!!! EXPO 2022 Afrocentric Architecture Excursion & Workshop is here, LIVE in ABUJA, FCT Nigeria!💯💯 Family, you know we are All About Developing African Inspired Architecture in our Built Environment! If the Architecture is Culturally and Environmentally Sustainable, then CPDIA Celebrates the Designer and the Project!💯💯 Not in West Africa this summer, No Worries!! EXPO 2023 we host our International Conference!  This CPDI Africa Workshop introduces participants to the concepts for developing new African architectural languages, inspired by the culture and technology of traditional and contemporary African societies. We harness solutions to today's built environment problems, sourced from African science and design philosophies. The workshop surveys innovations in both the African and Diaspora-built environment. Professionals and students will be introduced to the research initiatives of CPDI Africa, the Art of African A...

  The CPDI Africa Global Studio for African Centered Architecture: an Academic Platform for Teaching a New Pedagogy in African Architecture. The CPDI Africa Global Studio for African Centered Architecture provides architects and designers an African centered academic platform for learning technical solutions for problem solving in their communities, while preserving culture and heritage through design.  The global studio is organized by CPDI Africa - the Community Planning and Design Initiative, Africa. Our Global Studio Faculty are leading professors and architects, renowned for their pedagogy in teaching African centered architecture.  Tenured at distinguished universities around the globe, our professors understand architecture is not separate from the lexicon of creative arts, but an integral part of the full human experience. CPDI Africa faculty is interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and represent a diversity of world cultures, languages and heritage. The CPDI Afr...

Author My name is Lorin Jackson. You may have met me during the launch of the inaugural CPDI Africa Internship in the summer of 2020. I was thrilled to be awarded the internship, but struggled to meet the expectations, and coupled with the uprising and turmoil that America faced the summer of 2020, I couldn’t maintain what was necessary to successfully matriculate. Recently someone commented on my initial Instagram post announcing my involvement in the internship, and it inspired me to complete the coursework on my own time. To be honest, I was challenged by the first research assignment that asked us to identify elements of our architecture. I was stumped at identifying “our,” let alone “architecture.” I initially identified as a “Black American,” but in light of the recent atrocities enacted by the state at the time, to call myself American felt disingenuous and incriminating. To be Black in America is to be in direct opposition to everything America was really created for, so there ...

Introduction: Have you ever imagined what the architecture of Africa would look like today, if the great civilizations of Egypt, Timbuktu, Mali, the Dogon, Zulu, Yoruba, and thousands of other African empires had continued to develop and evolve in their own unique identity? Imagine the transformation of the African landscape into sprawling metropolises filled with architectural masterpieces celebrating new interpretations of traditional design elements, portrayed with all the comfort of modern innovations and technique. The Community Planning & Design Initiative Africa (CPDI Africa) 2021 culture-inspired, research-based design competition aims to promote the development of new architectural languages for the African Diaspora that are culturally and environmentally sustainable. What Africa would you build if given the opportunity to develop African skylines in her own image? Eligibility: The CPDI Africa 2021 competition is open to both students and practitioners of architecture and ...