Design for Sharjah’s Africa Institute New Campus Unveiled

In a strategic move, the Africa Institute in Sharjah has divulged plans for its new, 32,000-square-metre campus which will welcome its first set of students in 2023. The disclosure will lead Africa Institute to be the premier research foundation for African studies, according to published report on Friday.

Designed by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye, the institute’s new site will house archives, a library, and lecture and performance halls, as well as host visiting scholars and fellows, and stage art and music events. As a degree-granting institute for students earning their master’s and PhD qualifications, the institute will also effectively function as a university campus.

Adjaye, who recently designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, said he was inspired by North African domestic architecture for his latest creation. “In making a new institute, we wanted to make sure that we were rooting the discourse in the north of Africa and the Arab and Middle East peninsula,” said Adjaye in a press conference.

The geographical position of the UAE, the institute director Salah M. Hassan noted, makes it a natural site from which to understand the crossroads of migration and trade that traverse the Arabian Sea.