CPDI AFRICA Manifesto
The Community Planning & Design Initiative Africa (CPDI Africa) Promotes the Development of New Architectural Languages for the African Diaspora that are Culturally and Environmentally Sustainable.
Believing that the development of African and Diaspora built environments should be as
then has always been, built as a collaborative effort between the community members
and designated master builders, CDPI Africa engages participation from the design community
in Africa and the Diaspora at large, for the accomplishment of its vision.
CPDI Africa is culture-inspired, research-based and is committed to an African
Centered pedagogy for teaching architecture and sustainable development philosophies
Nmadili Okwumabua, MSc, BSc.
Afrocentric Designer, Developer, Educator.
Executive Director & Founder
CPDI AFRICA
Global Studio for African Centered Architecture
CPDI AFRICA Founder
Nmadili Okwumabua is a cultural designer, urbanist, and educator in African architecture and community planning. Her passion for design is rooted in a vision where communities in Africa and the Diaspora are developed with new architectural languages that preserve heritage and are culturally and environmentally sustainable. In 2005, she founded Southern Sahara USA, an international consultancy specializing in the research and development of this new architecture.
Nmadili Okwumabua attended the University of Tennessee and Georgia State University, where she pursued undergraduate studies in architecture and urban studies. She holds a master's degree in African and African American studies from Clark Atlanta University, where her research centered on the evolution of modern vernacular architecture in Nigeria. In 2013, the fruits of these efforts gave birth to the Community Planning & Design Initiative, Africa, (CPDI Africa), a research-based, culture-inspired initiative created to develop new African architectural languages through design competition. Believing that the redevelopment of Africa's built environment should be, as it has always been, built as a collaborative effort between the community members and designated master builders, Ms. Okwumabua engages participation from the design community throughout the African Diaspora, for the accomplishment of the CPDI Africa vision.
Nmadili Okwumabua's work in African and black culture architecture has been studied worldwide, via her lectures as a lecturer and visiting professor, annual design workshops, and the Art of African Architecture, a curated exhibition of winning designs from CPDI Africa bi-annual design competitions. She has presented research papers in over sixty international conferences, universities, and professional associations. Her work in African American & Diaspora studies builds upon Africanisms, cultural retentions rooted African design philosophies for preserving and developing black communities. In 2021, Okwumabua launched the Global Studio for African Centered Architecture (CPDI Africa GSACA), an academy for teaching this new pedagogy in architecture. Practitioners and students are awarded certificates post-completion of intense research and scholarship led by distinguished, tenured built environment professionals.
Ms. Okwumabua's career as a built environment professional spans over 27 years; she is a licensed Realtor in the state of Georgia and Certified Property Manager with Broll CBRE South Africa. Nmadili Okwumabua lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and Abuja, Nigeria, where she offers international consultancy services in urban design, hospitality, and real estate asset management, passionately sharing her vision with the future shapers of African and global built environments.
Developing New Architectural Languages for Africa and the Diaspora that are Culturally and Environmentally Sustainable!
Architect DEMAS NWOKO
Founder, New Culture Studios
Architect, Builder, Artist, Teacher
CPDI AFRICA Advisory Council
DEMAS NWOKO is a Nigerian artist, protean designer and architect. As an artist, he strives to incorporate modern techniques in architecture and stage design to enunciate the African subject matters in most of his works . He was a member of the Mbari club of Ibadan, a committee of burgeoning Nigerian and foreign artists. He was also a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. He was the publisher of the New Culture magazine. Demas Nwoko is a respected Nigerian artist, architect and master builder in Nigeria. Nwoko’s works fuse modern techniques in architecture and stage design with African tradition. With works like The Dominican Institute, Ibadan and The Akenzua Cultural Center, Benin to his credit, Demas Nwoko is one ‘artist-architect’ who believes in celebrating the African tradition in his works. In 2007, Farafina published The Architecture of Demas Nwoko, a study of Nwoko’s work and theories written by two British Architects, John Godwin OBE and Gillian Hopwood. He led the way toward a modern mode of expression in African art, theater, painting, and architecture. In addition, he is a fine actor and dancer, having performed in numerous plays in Ibadan. Nwoko, sees design as an ingenuous activity that carries with it a focus on social responsibility for positive influences in the environment and culture of the society
Professor DAVID HUGHES
NOMAC, FAIA
Director, DHC Architects
Professor Hughes is an architect, author, and academic, who is making a significant contribution to the profession and practice of architecture and to the advancement of humanity. As an architect, Professor Hughes is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and the Council of American Building Officials. He is a certified as a Professional Planner, and he is licensed in eleven states. He has served as an officer in the National Organization of Minority Architects and in the American Institute of Architects-Cleveland. He continues an active private practice as a consultant in architecture and urban planning. As an author and academic, Professor Hughes has logged over 30 years of international travel on four continents and to over 50 countries. As a student, academic, and Fulbright scholar, he has compiled the most exhaustive slide documentation/archives of modern contemporary architecture on the African continent, and on architecture influenced by African elements, held by any scholar worldwide. This work is the foundation of his theory, Afrocentric Architecture, featured in his seminal work on this body of thought, Afrocentric Architecture: A design primer.
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Our Boards
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Nmadili Okwumabua, MSc, BSc.
Afrocentric Designer, Developer, Educator.
Executive Director & Founder
CPDI AFRICA
Global Studio for African Centered Architecture
CPDI AFRICA Affiliates
We wish to extend a special thank you to our long-standing partners and collaborators! This journey would not be complete without your commitment to the vision. Vote of thanks to our highlighted affiliates, and many more celebrated in our chronicles of events, speaking engagements and African architecture exhibitions:
New Culture Studios
DHC Architects
EXPOReal Munich
National Organization of Minority Architects
American Institute of Architects
Nigerian Institute of Architects
Nigerian Institute of Town Planners
One Environment Abuja
Athabasca University Canada - RAIC
Morehouse College
BlackspaceATL and many more!
Click to enjoy a chronology of Events, Presentations and Collaborators of CPDI Africa around the Globe!
Click for Presentations & Exhibitions
Click for Event Posters & Itineraries
Nmadili Okwumabua, MSc, BSc.
Afrocentric Designer, Developer, Educator.
Executive Director & Founder
CPDI AFRICA
Global Studio for African Centered Architecture
CPDI AFRICA Sponsors
We wish to extend a special thank you to our long-standing partners and collaborators! This journey would not be complete without your commitment to the vision. Vote of thanks to our highlighted affiliates, and many more celebrated in our chronicles of events, speaking engagements and African architecture exhibitions:
