Wednesday, October 25, 5:00pm.
EMPAC Concert Hall
Sponsor: Ehrlich Architects Lecture Series

Mariam Issoufou Kamara:

“Architecture and Intersectional Sustainability”

Mariam Kamara is a Nigerien architect. She obtained her Masters in Architecture from the University of Washington. She founded architecture and research firm, atelier masōmī, in 2014. The firm tackles a wide variety of public, cultural, residential, commercial and urban design projects. In 2022, she was appointed professor of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability at ETH Zürich.

Her work is guided by the belief that architects have an important role to play in creating spaces that have the power to elevate, dignify, and provide a better quality of life. Through her practice, Mariam aims to discover innovative ways of doing so, while maintaining an intimate dialogue between architecture, people, and context.

atelier masōmī is an architecture and research firm guided by the belief that architecture is an important tool for social change. masōmī means the inception in Hausa. They tackle public, cultural, residential, commercial and urban design projects. Their work investigates the power of design to elevate, give dignity and better people’s quality of life. In 2022 atelier masōmī received the Aga Khan Award for architecture. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is given to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture.

Atelier masōmī believes that architects have an important role to play in creating spaces that have the power to elevate, dignify and provide a better quality of life. The context, people and cultural heritage of a place are the building blocks employ in order to come up with culturally relevant designs, that are at home in their local context but reimagined for the 21 century. Their work is built on a foundation of extensive research that uncovers ways in which they can go beyond the client’s brief and amplify the impact of a project. Atelier masōmī has found that by working within their constraints and challenges allows them to be able to create more meaningful, sustainable architecture. They believe that as architects and designers, it is our duty to find ways to bridge societal divides, be they cultural, economic or political. This mindset has resulted in the ability to develop meaningful and impactful ways to shape positive evolution of present narratives.

We look forward to seeing you at this lecture.

https://www.ateliermasomi.com/