Ecosystems: A Contemporary African Architecture

Available to pre-order - this title is due to ship in November

This first book by celebrated Senegalese practice Worofila addresses the challenge facing the African city of today: to build in a way that is adapted to the lives of current inhabitants without compromising those of future generations. Drawing on abundant but often ignored pre-colonial methods and models of building, Worofila create bioclimatic architecture based around local, non-polluting materials, ancestral knowledge, and democratic systems of construction and maintenance. Their architectural language begins from the material, climatic, and human ecosystems around them.

Ecosystems: A Contemporary African Architecture offers a survey of Worofila’s work to date, spanning housing, infrastructure, public institutions, and spaces for training and experimentation. Each project is accompanied by detailed examinations of the use of local climate conditions, materials, and skills. The book offers a generous bank of experiences, methods, and critical ideas that together suggest an approach to making local and sustainable architecture across the world.

Published in English and French language editions