Design for Sharjah’s Africa Institute New Campus Unveiled

British-Ghanaian architect, David Adjaye, has unveiled the design for the new Africa Institute in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. With an opening planned for 2023, the Institute aims to be a premier research center for African studies and to promote cooperation and collaborations between Africa and the Middle East. The new site will house archives, a library, and lecture and performance halls, as well as host visiting scholars and fellows, and stage art and music events. As a degree-granting institute for students earning their master’s and PhD qualifications, the institute will also effectively function as a university campus. Adjaye, who recently designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, said he was inspired by North African domestic architecture for his latest creation. He proposed a campus composed of five tower blocks, with air circulating between these structures allowing for pools and gardens on the ground floor as places for scholars to talk and meet. The reddish-brick colour of the design is a nod to the iron oxide typically found in North African soil. 

SOURCE: THE NATIONAL NEWS