The Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal and African Architecture Matters are calling upon architects, artists and visionaries to present the built Africa of the future. 25 entries will be selected to be displayed in the Blueprints of Paradise exhibition in the Afrika Museum in 2011.

The Blueprints of Paradise competition is open to designers with African roots and will focus on the question ‘How will people build and live in the Africa of the future? Models, (parts of) buildings and structures may be submitted, as well as posters, panels and electronic photographic and film material. The project’s scale can vary from a detailed design of a building to a city plan.

Participation criteria

The competition is open to designers with an African background. This means that anyone from Africa or the African Diaspora areas aged 18 years or above can enter. Designs can be submitted until 15 October 2010. The international jury will then select 25 entries to be displayed in the Afrika Museum from April to October 2011.

Prizes

The 25 best entries will be displayed in the Afrika Museum in 2011. The jury will select 3 prize winners from these 25 entrants and the winners will be invited to attend the opening of the exhibition, with all expenses paid by the organisers, as well as receiving a cash prize. The winner of the public award will also be invited to attend the opening ceremony.

Recommending committee and jury

The jury members are:

• Lesley Naa Norle Lokko (writer and architect, Ghana, South Africa, UK)
• Joe Osae–Addo (principle architect of  of Constructs LLC in Ghana and Chairman of the Board of Stichting ArchiAfrika)
• Femke van Zeijl (journalist and writer with a focus on Africa)
• Manthia Diawara (Malian writer, filmmaker, cultural theorist, art historian and Chairman of the Africana Studies Department at New York University)
• Abdoumaliq Simone (professor and urbanist, Goldsmith College, UK)

For further information about the competition, terms & conditions and the procedure, please visit www.afrikamuseum.nl/blog. You can also find an interview with the chair of the Jury, Joe Osae – Addo there.

Afrika Museum, Postweg 6, Berg en Dal (near Nijmegen), the Netherlands

Opening hours

• Monday to Friday: 10am – 5pm
• 1 November – 1 April: Closed on Mondays.
• Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: 11am – 5pm

African Architecture Matters // co-founders of ArchiAfrika

po box 14174, 3508 SG UTRECHT, the Netherlands