Pinpoint Directory
Pinpoint is an archive of 150 of the most innovative and provocative African and African diaspora practitioners whose work engages with the twin issues of decarbonisation and decolonisation. This list of practitioners encompasses practising architects, graduates, academics, activists, as well as built environment professionals (landscape, urbanists, interiors, developers) whose work merits inclusion. We are working on releasing the first volume in November 2024. >
The Well-Laid Table
The AFI has been engaged in an unusual period of collaboration between people in different locations around the world. We have thus had to develop new techniques and strategies to ensure meaningful cooperation online. We are reminded of Alvin Boyarsky’s concept of the school of architecture as a ‘well-laid table’ (Sunwoo, 2012), his metaphor for an educational model that confronts diversity and divergency head-on. At ‘our’ table are architects/educators working in Dublin; emerging researchers, writers, practitioners and academics working in Accra, Dakar, Lagos, London, Johannesburg, and Oxford; a graphic designer based in Johannesburg, operations managers and events coordinators in Accra and assistants working between London, Los Angeles and Accra. >
AAIR
Architecture in Africa’s International Relations was a weeklong workshop taking place in Accra from 17 to 23 September 2022. The invited participants were scholars and practitioners working in the fields of architecture and/or international relations, with a focus on Africa. The workshop sought to put a variety of methodological, empirical and theoretical approaches to African architecture into conversation with one another so that we can begin to develop new ways of thinking about African architecture. >
Speaking History
The AFI’s first major academic project, Speaking History, is a multifaceted initiative that interrogates and overthrows an outdated, Eurocentric and racist assumption that writing is superior to speech; that written histories are more valuable than oral. This initiative will take several different forms, from a documentary series to longer-term partnerships, conferences and workshops. >