Gasuza Lwanga

Firm name: Adengo Architecture
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Year founded: 2016
Firm leadership: Doreen Adengo, principal
Firm size: Six people: three architects, two graduate architects, and one accountant
Education: M.Arch. from Yale University; B.S. from The Catholic University of America

The Bujjuko School, Bujjuko, Uganda. In this largely agricultural region, community members spend most of their time outdoors, retreating inside during the evenings. Adengo Architecture’s design echoed this pattern by providing a seamless relationship between the school’s interior and exterior.
courtesy Adengo Architecture The Bujjuko School, Bujjuko, Uganda. In this largely agricultural region, community members spend most of their time outdoors, retreating inside during the evenings. Adengo Architecture’s design echoed this pattern by providing a seamless relationship between the school’s interior and exterior.
courtesy Adengo Architecture

Experience: Adjaye Associates, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Ellerbe Becket, and Gruzen Samton Architects

How did you come up with your firm name? I chose my name; I think it’s a strong name.

Firm mission: Our mission is focused on communicating the value of design in African cities. In a context where non-designers often build their own homes and other structures, we believe it’s critical to make the case that architects and urban planners can improve people’s everyday lives, helping cities develop sustainably.

First commission: The Bujjuko School in Bujjuko, Uganda. The school is based on a series of one-story buildings, which have been placed with care on the site’s sloping topography. A series of terraces formed by the land’s grading offer outdoor space between the buildings for children and community members to gather, play, and garden. Because the school is located in a part of the country that experiences two rainy and dry seasons per year—with temperatures ranging from 68 F to 84 F and an average annual rainfall of 40 inches—we used passive design techniques to ensure comfortable interior environments and provided a rain-harvesting system to store water underground for use in the dry seasons.

African Mobilities (3x3): The Kitenge hub is located in downtown Kampala, where space is limited. In order to maximise profits, landlords squeeze as many commercial spaces as possible into their buildings.
courtesy Adengo Architecture African Mobilities (3x3): The Kitenge hub is located in downtown Kampala, where space is limited. In order to maximise profits, landlords squeeze as many commercial spaces as possible into their buildings.
courtesy Adengo Architecture
“African Mobilities 3x3” project. The global Kitenge trade provides a window into the connections and contributions that African migrants are making in the world. Combining photography, film, cartography, and architecture, this project explored the ways in which Congolese traders and tailors transform the social, economic, and built environment in Kampala, Uganda.
courtesy Adengo Architecture “African Mobilities 3x3” project. The global Kitenge trade provides a window into the connections and contributions that African migrants are making in the world. Combining photography, film, cartography, and architecture, this project explored the ways in which Congolese traders and tailors transform the social, economic, and built environment in Kampala, Uganda.


Defining project and why: African Mobilities 3X3 project. This was a multidisciplinary collaboration in which our studio explored how Congolese traders and tailors transform the social, economic, and built environment in Kampala, while forging connections to places much farther afield. Working at multiple scales, we considered the impact of the Kitenge trade at the global, regional, city, and neighborhood levels, with a focus on the 3x3-meter shop units that connect Congolese refugees to the global fashion industry.

Another important project and why: Uganda National Museum, Conservation Management Plan, Keeping It Modern initiative with the Getty Foundation. This will be the first conservation management plan for a Modernist building in Uganda. It is my hope that this is only the beginning of a national movement to preserve our many Modernist gems.

Uganda Museum, Conservation Management Plan, “Keeping It Modern” initiative. The Uganda National Museum, designed by Ernst May in 1954, is one of the first purpose-built museums in Africa and one of the first Modernist buildings in Kampala. Adengo Architecture is working with the Getty Foundation and other partners to come up with a conservation management plan for this important museum, which has been threatened with demolition on numerous occasions.
Franklin Kasumba Uganda Museum, Conservation Management Plan, “Keeping It Modern” initiative. The Uganda National Museum, designed by Ernst May in 1954, is one of the first purpose-built museums in Africa and one of the first Modernist buildings in Kampala. Adengo Architecture is working with the Getty Foundation and other partners to come up with a conservation management plan for this important museum, which has been threatened with demolition on numerous occasions.
Franklin Kasumba

Which architects or firms have influenced your practice and how: I was inspired by Adjaye Associates and Robert A.M. Stern Architects. I met David Adjaye, Hon. FAIA, while I was a graduate student at Yale and interned at his office in 2004. It was important to have met someone whom I could identify with at that time, and I learned a lot about the studio environment. RAMSA was professional, and the office had a great library. Beyond the good training, there was an interest in research, which drives my practice today. My mentors include Adjaye, Issa Diabaté, and Louise Braverman, FAIA, who all run successful practices, and I continue to learn from them.

Biggest career leap: Around the time I started my practice in Uganda, I was featured on BBC’s First Person series in 2014. At the time, the BBC was not really airing positive news coming out of Africa, so when it aired in the U.S. and the U.K. and on BBC World Service’s Focus on Africa, I quickly became known in Kampala.

courtesy Adengo Architecture
courtesy Adengo Architecture

The most important piece of advice you ever received: The best advice has come from accountants. They advise architects that for any business to run well, one must charge the right fee, manage cash flow, and get a good accountant.

What Instagram accounts should we follow: @adjaye_visual_sketchbook and @africanmobilities

What other emerging firms should we keep an eye on: Koffi & Diabatte and Local Works Uganda

For the Global Urbanism Studio 2020 workshop, Adengo Architecture, Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi, and Washington University in St. Louis focused on markets and analyzed how changes have been made to adapt to the new government guidelines for COVID-19. The studio speculated on possible futures in light of the current crisis juxtaposed with the challenges faced as a result of climate change, and also explored innovative ways of representation, combining film, photography, mapping, interviews, and architectural drawing.
Tadeo Nedala, May Xue, Sebastian Jin, courtesy Adengo Architecture, Uganda Martyrs University, and Washington University St. Louis For the Global Urbanism Studio 2020 workshop, Adengo Architecture, Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi, and Washington University in St. Louis focused on markets and analyzed how changes have been made to adapt to the new government guidelines for COVID-19. The studio speculated on possible futures in light of the current crisis juxtaposed with the challenges faced as a result of climate change, and also explored innovative ways of representation, combining film, photography, mapping, interviews, and architectural drawing.
Tadeo Nedala, May Xue, Sebastian Jin, courtesy Adengo Architecture., Uganda Martyrs University, and Washington University St. Louis
Tadeo Nedala, May Xue, Sebastian Jin, courtesy Adengo Architecture, Uganda Martyrs University, and Washington University St. Louis

This article has been updated since publication.