Afropolitan Ecologies Imagining Climate-Smart Kenya by Design

Organised by CUBE research centre at London Metropolitan University, and commissioned by the Africa Centre on behalf of the British Council as part of the UK/Kenya Season 2025, this event convened a conversation between Kenyan architectural innovator Kevin Kimwelle and keynote discussants in London and New York: Tara Gbolade and Mokena Makeka. A welcome message from outgoing RIBA President Muyiwa Oki opened proceedings, and a note of thanks from the Africa Centre’s CEO Olu Alake closed it, with a drinks reception, which followed in the Malangatana Lounge.

The event set out to position Kenya in a global dialogue concerning climate change. Against the background of the SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals, we aimed to emphasise an African point of view by posing the question of what an Afrocentric ecological agenda might be. This was about practical processes – the geographic, demographic and economic dimensions of the challenge – it was also an invitation to rethink the climate change discourse. Why not deprovincialise the way that this narrative positions Africa? What can the UK learn from or offer to Kenyan colleagues in terms of sectoral knowledge and shared concerns? How might debate in the built environment sector adapt to an ecological agenda that places Africa at its heart?

Speakers

Kevin Kimwelle is an architect whose work bridges Kenya and South Africa, with global collaborations in the USA, Europe, India, and across Africa. His doctoral research explores alternative design as a catalyst for social change, focusing on climate-responsive innovation. His recent Food Pavilion at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront—constructed from 98% recycled waste—was nominated for the 2024 Barcelona Construmat Awards. He has received multiple honours, including SAIA Eastern Cape Regional Commendation (2023), the SA Cities Network Best Developmental Approach (2021), and SAPOA’s Most Transformational Project Award (2018). His work has been featured in Architectural Record, Metropolis Magazine, ArchDaily, CNN, The Guardian, and Deutsche Welle. He has spoken at TEDx, the 2023 UIA Copenhagen Film Festival under the UN SDG banner, and participated in the Creative Climate Coalition at COP27.

Tara Gbolade is a Mayor’s Design Advocate and co-director of Gbolade Design Studio - an architecture & urban design practice specialising in residential and mixed-use developments, for public and private sector clients, through data-led placeshaping. She is a Trustee of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and sits on Design Review Panels across London, advising councils on major planning applications. With expertise in sustainable design, Tara has led public-sector sustainability guidance; setting the ambition and standards for environmental and socio-economic sustainability ensuring that high quality sustainable design is embedded within new and existing development and communities. She is co-founder of the Paradigm Network which champions diverse representation in the built environment; and author of Changing the Game: How to be a Sustainable and Regenerative Small Practice (RIBA Publishing, 2024).

Mokena Makeka is an award-winning architect, urbanist, and thought leader whose work integrates design, policy, and social change. He is a Partner at Axum, the Founding President of FLOW: Future of Living for One World, and Board Member of the School for Explorative Architecture, South Africa. Academic posts include Special Advisor to the Vice President of Academic Affairs at The Cooper Union in New York (2023-25), where he was Director of the Benjamin Menschel Civic Projects Lab (CPL), and in 2024 he became President of the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA). Raised in Lesotho and New York, he has been honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Desmond Tutu Fellow, and an African Leadership Network member. In 2023, he co-led the "Afropolitan Architecture" dialogues at the Venice Biennale, and with Matthew Barac launched “New York Afropolitan” in 2025 at the CPL.

Chair

Dr Adeyemi Akande is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University, specialising in the art and architectural histories of Africa. Holding a doctorate in Cultural Art History, his research delves into the spirituality, materiality, and meaning embedded in pre-20th-century West African art, architecture, and urban settlements. He has been recognized with prestigious fellowships, including the Frances A. Yates Fellowship at the Warburg Institute, the H. Allen Brooks Fellowship from the Society of Architectural Historians, and the Leonard A. Lauder Visiting Senior Fellowship at the National Gallery of Art's Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) in Washington, D.C.

This event was conceptualised and delivered by Prof. Matthew Barac and Dr Harriet McKay at CUBE: Centre for Urban and Built Ecologies. The project’s Research Assistant is Magda Olchawska led on film production and editing, as well as web content management. The event would not have been possible without the support of the season’s Associate Producer Michael Burgess, and the Africa Centre’s programme Director Fadil Elobeid.

We are grateful to Cagni Williams, an award-winning architecture studio and energy consultancy with active projects in Kenya, for sponsoring this event.