“Qhen I enrolled in university in South Africa, in Pretoria (there are no Faculties of Architecture in Senegal), I very soon realized the lack of female figures in the profession, even if there was gender equality among the students from a numerical point of view» she recalls Nzinga Biegueng Mboup. «Moving to London for the masters, I had to realize that it was precisely the culture, the male approach that predominated in the working world and that, probably, many would have retreated to something else. At that point it was very important – I thought – that I complete my education in the UK and join the Bar there to increase the representation of women and, more importantly, black women. It became a political act.”
Nzinga Biegueng Mboup (photo Festus Jackson-Davis).
Then the professional – present at Architecture Biennale 2023 with a project in the “Guests from the Future” section – returned to Dakar and, in 2019, founded the studio Worofila, specializing in bioclimatic design and construction using raw earth and other local natural materials such as cattail, a marsh plant.
“Ecofeminism and I”
For the approach to the craft seems aligned with the ecofeminist movement, so it is impossible to talk about women’s emancipation if we do not talk about a more equitable relationship between our species and the planet’s resources.
I completely agree that so many imbalances are related to the dominant Western capitalist values, which can be identified with a “masculine” attitude. However, as much as I appreciate the change of perspective, I don’t like that the burden of “fixing the world” is placed on women, especially women of color. It is too much weight to repair, heal, provide… The amount of work (sometimes not valued) that we carry out is already enormous.
Ripple effect
The priorities for emancipation in Senegal?
The country has made great strides in ensuring equality: we see our growing presence in various fields, mainly in the cultural sector. And there will be a knock-on effect when it becomes clear that female leadership (not only in government, but also in civil society) who is a little more concerned with creating balanced and just societies benefits everyone.
He has just published an essay with an eloquent title: On empowermenton empowerment.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “empowerment” is the act of giving someone the authority to do something. When I returned to Dakar after my studies, as a young architect trying to break with the concrete-based “constructive modernity”, I had to create a “toolkit” to “empower” myself by standing on the ground and reinventing ways to build. It is of that kit that I speak in my writing.
Nzinga Biegueng Mboup’s lesson
Are there any lessons we can draw from Africa?
There is a lot to learn about reuse ecologies, about the tradition of using available materials. Most cities and villages are not modeled by experts (just 7 percent of buildings are designed by architects), they are grounds for the production of resilient urbanities that often respond creatively to lack of infrastructure and lack of governance. Buildings and cities have the potential to represent an alternative – sober and adaptable to changing socio-economic realities – to globalisation. And not only.
How else can it inspire us?
Today we understand the importance of rethinking our dependence on fossil fuels and extractive industries, and Africa holds the key to creating the conditions for what that world could be like. If you don’t play against.
In what sense?
Our first strength is to understand that we are a people and to celebrate it, without letting ourselves be hindered by differences. The continent was at the heart of the industrial revolution and continues to fuel the technological and economic progress of the Western world in the form of raw materials and skilled labour, with disastrous consequences. A situation that is time to stop.
“Never set limits”
Nzinga Biegueng Mboup’s project presented at the 2023 Architecture Biennale.
How did your vocation for architecture come about? And for a sustainable architecture…
I was born in Maputo, Mozambique, and my first memory of an African city is that: a planned and quite modernist place. But after a while we moved, we lived in the suburbs of cities such as Yaoundé, in Cameroon, Malabo, in Guinea, or Bangui, in the Central African Republic: I found myself faced with problems such as traffic, unhealthiness, risk of flooding… Here’s where the initial impulse comes: from the desire to design a better living environment for citizens. And, to do so, you don’t need only “technical” skills, you need to be inspired by history, sociology, philosophy and the arts.
When did you choose to focus on bioclimatic design?
At university we were aware of the use of ‘local’ materials such as firebrick and we were taught to develop design strategies in consideration of South Africa’s diverse climates. For the final master’s thesis, in London, I chose as topic the Anthropocene and the environmental impact of fracking (oil and fossil fuel extraction technique, ed). All this prompted me to delve deeper into the topic: how to reduce the impact of construction (construction is the cause of 39 percent of CO2 emissions, 36 of electricity consumption, 50 of the extraction of raw materials, ed)?
Taking advantage of your experience, what do you wish the girls?
Not to set limits. Not to let preconceived ideas about gender confine the realm of their capabilities.
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