Blueprints of Paradise

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Joe Osae Addo, pictured, left, with his usual high wattage beam, was for a long time the life and soul of the LA architecture scene (he was one of the…

Joe Osae Addo
Joe Osae Addo (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

Joe Osae Addo, pictured, left, with his usual high wattage beam, was for a long time the life and soul of the LA architecture scene (he was one of the original founders of the A+D Museum). Some years ago he moved back to his native Ghana where he is as much of a force as he was here, engaged both in the design of buildings that unite traditional and contemporary language (http://www.dwell.com/articles/an-inno-native-approach.html) and finding built  solutions to some of the urban and economic problems facing Africa (and the US — Osae-Addo was one of the architects who designed a house for Make It Right in New Orleans).

Now Joe is Chair of a jury that is looking for architects, designers, and big thinkers from the African Diaspora to envision “Blueprints of Paradise,” ideas for the Africa of tomorrow. Entrants have to submit ideas by October 15. Following is more information about the competition, and see this video of Joe Addo talking about Blueprints of Paradise:

Competition BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE: imagine future built Africa!
 
Africa is planning for the future. Some projects, like the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, affect the entire world. Others, like the works of Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, Doual’art, or the team of Takako Tajima and Aziza Chaouni, are locally focused.
 
With BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE, the Afrika Museum (Berg en Dal) and African Architecture Matters (Utrecht), two organizations based in The Netherlands, have recently launched a great and challenging competition in which the new generation of African architects, artists and visionairies are given the opportunity to present their thoughts and plans for the future of built Africa: Africa’s Next Top Model? Further information can be found at www.afrikamuseum.nl/blog.
 
To turn BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE into a successful event and to collect as many presentations as possible of future aspirations we are looking for as many participants as possible for this great and challenging competition.
 
The presentations must be submitted before the competition deadline of 15 October 2010.
 
Please register yourself and find more information at www.afrikamuseum.nl/blog!