EARTH, MEMORY, AND THE SPACES WE INHABIT: Matrilineal Legacies in Contemporary Architecture

By Black Females in Architecture

TOP DOWN BOTTOM UP! Collective Action for the Just City

By Citizen Architects and Just City Working Group

ARCHITECTURE & MIGRATION

By Somali Architecture

This June, as part of the London Festival of Architecture (LFA), NOW Gallery at Greenwich Peninsula presents three architectural exhibitions by collectives including Citizen Architects, Black Females in Architecture (BFA) and Somali Architecture. Marking the inaugural participation in the LFA for both NOW Gallery and the featured collectives, the exhibitions take over the gallery spaces to explore architecture as a tool for social justice and equity. By centring the experiences of people and communities that are often unheard, the programme aligns with LFA’s 2025 theme, Voices, and will span a myriad of media including participatory installations, film, photography, and live events.

Located in the main space of NOW Gallery, visitors will first encounter Earth, Memory and the Spaces we Inhabit: Matrilineal Legacies in Contemporary Architecture, a re-examination of how architecture is understood, spoken about and practiced by amplifying narratives that have long been overlooked. Presented by Black Females in Architecture (BFA) – a social enterprise and global community of black women within the architecture, design and construction industries – the exhibition is part of an ongoing body of research exploring spatial storytelling through the lens of African and diasporic heritage.

At its core, it is a curated collection of objects and spatial interventions contributed by the BFA community, spanning from ornaments, homeware, ceramic, jewellery, paintings, drawings, and textiles, furniture, tiles, lighting, fixtures, as well as prints, photographs, and test pieces from related design work. Together, these works reflect how women engage with space in their everyday lives, shaping their homes, communities and cities through the lenses of sustenance, leisure and ecology. A dynamic programme of talks, food, music and games accompanies the exhibition throughout its run.

Upstairs on the gallery’s mezzanine floor, TOP DOWN BOTTOM UP! Collective Action for the Just City is an interactive exhibition by Exeter-based architectural practice Citizen Architects and the Just City Working Group (JCWG) Kenya. Made possible by the British Council, the exhibition connects residents of Bondeni, a diverse neighbourhood in Nakuru, Kenya, with UK architects and visitors to the LFA to co-create a vision for a more equitable city. Invoking Kenya’s 2010 constitution which enshrines the right to public participation in planning processes, and using Scenerii, a digital engagement tool, the JCWG empowers Bondeni residents to steer urban development decisions in their community.

In London, this data is used to build a 1:300 scale model of Bondeni as imagined by its residents using recycled materials. In a collaborative act of civic imagination, visitors are invited to participate by helping to build the requested additions to the model. Alongside the installation, the exhibition traces the colonial roots of urban inequality in Kenyan cities. Aerial photography by Johnny Miller reveals the stark spatial disparities that persist today, showing densely populated informal communities side by side with affluent planned neighbourhoods.

Finally, also on the upper level of NOW Gallery, Architecture and Migration by Somali Architecture – a platform dedicated to raising awareness of Somali heritage sites – explores both historical and contemporary locations in need of preservation, alongside the story of Somali migration since the 1990s: a journey marked by displacement, resilience and adaption.

The presentation of pre-war Mogadishu; maps tracing the global spread of Somali diaspora; and statistics that highlight the scale and diversity of Somali Sideways, Architecture and Migration examines how diasporic communities rebuild in new places while preserving their ties to their homeland. It invites audiences to reflect on the deep interconnection between identity, spatial context and built form.

Images Courtesy of BFA, Somali Architecture, Citizen Architects and Johnny Miller (Loresho, Nairobi, Kenya 2024 / Unequal Scenes)