Architecture
Arts & Entertainment
On the Character of African Architecture
The writer reflects on a troubling shift in Yaounde's urban landscape: newer buildings lack the cultural distinctiveness and durability of older structures, while a proliferation of glass towers—elegant at first but quickly weathered—suggests a loss of architectural wisdom. The piece pairs this observation with profiles of contemporary African architects who are recovering that wisdom through sustainable and culturally grounded design.
Francis Kere: Architecture as African Inheritance
Poise celebrates Francis Kere, a Burkinabe architect whose studio creates structures grounded in indigenous knowledge, local materials, and community partnership across West and East Africa. His work demonstrates that contemporary design need not be imported—it can be rooted, functional, and distinctly African.