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Paper short abstract:

This article questions African urban futures by analyzing the evolution of construction practices and architectural knowledge in West Africa. It explores alternative ways of building and consider African cities as places for exploring new ways of inhabiting the world

Paper long abstract:

This article questions African urban futures by analyzing the evolution of construction practices and architectural knowledge in West Africa. This reflection comes at a crucial time: the urgency of the climate crisis, the recognition of African (vernacular) architecture (e.g., Francis Kéré, Pritzker Prize winner, and Lesley Lokko, curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023), the global increase in the price of materials, the criticism of the concrete and cement industry, one of the most polluting in the world…

Drawing on ethnographic work carried out along the West African urban corridor, from Accra to Lagos, this article proposes to (i) explore the construction practices writing the biography of some west African buildings, from their foundations to their finishing by giving the point of view of those who build (ordinary self-builders, masons, property developers, architects); (ii) map the growing number of initiatives that seek to find alternatives to all-concrete buildings and offer solutions to both the demand for affordable housing and the use of renewable and local materials; (3) to consider African cities as places for new imaginaries and possibilities, inspired by cultural and artistic renewal (e.g, Afrofuturism), in which to invent new ways of inhabiting the world.