Project Entry 2017 for Middle East Africa
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Maisha Film Lab headquarters, Kampala, Uganda
The new headquarters of Maisha Film Lab wants to synthesize life in cinema and architecture. Maisha is a non-profit training initiative for emerging African filmmakers, founded by Mira Nair in Kampala, Uganda. Maisha Film Garden is cultural, environmental and architectural project to see and narrate a new Africa. It is intended to sum up life in cinema and architecture. The project is conceived as a film sequence inspired by the evolution of life, as Maisha means life in Kiswahili.
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Maisha Film Lab headquarters, Kampala, Uganda
The headquarters is the heart of the project; it houses the school management, a video archive, a video room with 54 seats and two editing rooms, as well as some services for the garden. It is the first and the last leg of the living path. Symbolically it represents the beginning and the end of the human adventure.
Last updated: March 21, 2017 Kampala, Uganda
Ethical standards and social inclusion
Mira Nair created a not-for-profit organization, the Maisha Foundation, in 2004 to address the absence of a globally viable film industry in East Africa. Mira Nair says “If we don’t tell our stories, no one else will”, this is the reason why her mission is to empower visionary artists by giving them the tools to tell their stories in a global discourse; and establish the roots of a self-sustaining film industry in East Africa. Currently, all selected participants attend Maisha’s programs free of charge. Maisha Film Lab headquarters is a cultural, environmental and architectural project to see and narrate a new Africa.
Resource and environmental performance
In the area of Kampala there is an excellent production of bricks due to the presence of large amounts of clay and to the ease of finding combustible fuel for kilns. The bricks are hand made using kilns made on site. The project is inspired by the shape of the kilns and by the technology of brick, used for both the walls two types vaulted ceilings. In this way we want to promote local production and minimize the use of cement. Particular attention was paid to environmental sustainability. Beginning with the choice of the building materials: bricks. Material produced locally by local craftsmen. A special study has been done on the topic of natural ventilation of the building of Maisha School.
Contextual and aesthetic impact
The Maisha Film Labs headquarters lies on a hill in Kampala. Its proximity to Lake Victoria endows the area with an eye-catching panoramic view. The walking path, which develops in the garden, begins in childhood and unfolds through different stations in the evolution of the human being until the final transition, from which one can start again. It includes several functional activities of the school and reveals sights of cultural relevance, such as a cinema/theater, created using the slope of the land. The Maisha Film Labs headquarters is the heart of the project. It is a building made entirely of bricks and has a theater/terrace overlooking the landscape. It is the first and last stage on the living path. Symbolically, it represents the beginning and end of the human adventure.