Tomà Berlanda
Professor of Architectural Technology
Dipl. Arch. USI, Ph.D. Politecnico di Torino
Born in Venice, Tomà Berlanda is an architect with extensive international academic and professional experience. He is Professor of Architectural Technology at the Politecnico di Torino. Between 2015 and 2023 he served as Professor of Architecture at the University of Cape Town where he's now a Honorary Research Associate. He is also a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the African Futures Institute (2020-) and an Editorial Contributor to the Architectural Review (2020-).
His research interests are focused on the implications that can be drawn from a non stereotypical reading of the African city and the practice of architecture in non-Western urban settings and landscapes, which build on his experience as co-founder of ASA studio in Kigali, Rwanda (2012-14), and his current position as co-founder of a studio.space in Cape Town (2018-). He is the author, amongst many articles and chapters in books, of "Architectural Topographies" (Routledge, 2014) and, together with Korydon H. Smith, of "Interpreting Kigali, Rwanda. Architectural Inquiries and Prospects for a Developing African City" (University of Arkansas Press, 2018).
Dipl. Arch. USI, Ph.D. Politecnico di Torino
Born in Venice, Tomà Berlanda is an architect with extensive international academic and professional experience. He is Professor of Architectural Technology at the Politecnico di Torino. Between 2015 and 2023 he served as Professor of Architecture at the University of Cape Town where he's now a Honorary Research Associate. He is also a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the African Futures Institute (2020-) and an Editorial Contributor to the Architectural Review (2020-).
His research interests are focused on the implications that can be drawn from a non stereotypical reading of the African city and the practice of architecture in non-Western urban settings and landscapes, which build on his experience as co-founder of ASA studio in Kigali, Rwanda (2012-14), and his current position as co-founder of a studio.space in Cape Town (2018-). He is the author, amongst many articles and chapters in books, of "Architectural Topographies" (Routledge, 2014) and, together with Korydon H. Smith, of "Interpreting Kigali, Rwanda. Architectural Inquiries and Prospects for a Developing African City" (University of Arkansas Press, 2018).
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Papers by Tomà Berlanda
Amidst this optimism, however, is limited land and material resources. Food security is in tension with environmental concerns, and government aspirations are often in friction with daily, individual struggles for subsistence.
Interpreting Kigali, Rwanda explores the pressing challenges and opportunities to be found in planning, designing, and constructing a healthy, equitable, and sustainable city. Asking “what is an authentic-yet-modern, prosperous-yet-feasible African city, Rwandan city?” Smith, Berlanda, and colleagues conducted research on Rwandan activities of daily living and how these routines are connected to space-making practices and the Kinyarwanda terms that describe them.
Through a culturally informed view of urban and rural lifestyles and spaces, Interpreting Kigali, Rwanda presents principles and proposals for neighborhood development in the challenging context of Kigali’s informal settlements. With one billion people living in informal settlements worldwide, a number expected to double by 2030, the lessons learned in Rwanda provide a complex, fascinating, and urgent study for scholars and practitioners across disciplines and around the world.