The search for authentic African architecture was discussed in depth in May 2026 in the workshop ‘Learning from Chandigarh’, calling for architecture students to be more receptive to tactical maneuvering possibilities for ‘creating (in) a city’.
The workshop focused on reading, understanding, and reinterpreting the new city of Chandigarh, developed in the 1950s, and its translation into architectural and urban planning potential in Bukavu, based on critical reflection. This interpretation of the assigned theme allows for a better understanding of the origins of Indian achievements and their links to similar African contexts. The experiences and achievements of Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry, in particular, on both continents, offer extremely interesting points of comparison.
In this workshop, different groups of students (6) worked at various scales on a number of sub-themes. In more traditional architecture workshops, an assignment is formulated, after which groups of students get to work and ultimately present an (architecture) project. In this workshop, the thought process was of paramount importance: the aim was to reflect on architecture, design, and urban planning appropriate for Bukavu. The discussions, reflections, and resulting future ideas were visually represented during two interim presentations and a final presentation on Friday. Innovative presentation formats were devised for the presentations.
For more than 40 third- and fourth-year students in Bukavu, this way of working was new. The 6 themes align very closely with the concerns of a city exploding due to the geopolitical situation and also contribute to the creation of a distinct identity for and of the still-young architecture school within the faculty.
Urban development is mainly supported by the initiatives of the inhabitants, due to the lack of public investment in the urban fabric.
The city of Bukavu will only be sustainable and resilient if it meets the real needs of its inhabitants in terms of the provision of decent housing, activities and basic social services.
As stated by Gulain Amani Mushizi when criticizing the Bukavu Urban Reference Plan (PUR), planning, including architecture, must be based on a genuine urban diagnosis (reading, interpreting and re-conceptualising the practices of those involved in the urban fabric), which will enable us to understand the area with all its subtleties and then propose appropriate solutions tailored to each case. This is the only way to reconcile the universal values of sustainable development with the expectations of local residents. To achieve this, we need to be able to identify and take account of the players already involved in the urban fabric.
The workshop has produced insights by undertaking culturally rooted design research exploring indigenous knowledge systems, vernacular architecture, and urban patterns.
In the search for new roots in the architectural world of Bukavu, the architecture of verticality, the ‘Kivu-kitchen’, the color patchwork, the Chameleon house, the Nkafu chair and the Cityfix studio all contribute to the construction of a renewed architectural repertoire. Each of these workshop concepts constitutes a necessary component of an anthropological toolbox. As such a new generation of (future) architects are building up a ‘local’ ethnographic architectural language, mapping out how cultural identity, lifestyles, and social interactions shape space.
Deeper insights in cultural practices have been translated into reinventing ‘tribal’ ways of building. The different proposals transpose the workshop theme into a contemporary, even futuristic vision, embodying the potential of urban Bukavu. By doing so, architecture can act as a powerful antidote to violence by actively combating social inequality and marginalization. Instead of designing exclusion and division, spaces can be created that foster collectivity, dignity, and human connection, forming the basis for a more peaceful society.