Antoni Folkers

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Antoni Folkers
Antoni Folkers 2016.jpg
Born (1960-06-05) June 5, 1960 (age 62)
Delft
NationalityDutch
Alma materTU Delft
OccupationArchitect
Years activesince 1987

Antoni Scholtens Folkers (born 1960) is a Dutch architect, urbanist and researcher. Folkers studied at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at Delft University of Technology where he also received his Ph.D. in 2011. His doctoral dissertation was later published as the book Modern Architecture in Africa. [1] Folkers is one of the founding partners of the research and educational platforms ArchiAfrika and African Architecture Matters. [2]

Contents

Life and career

Antoni Folkers was born on 5 June 1960 in Delft, Netherlands. He commenced his education in Art and Art History at John Carroll University, Cleveland United States and Utrecht University in 1979. [3] Folkers went on to study architecture and urban planning at TU Delft. During his years at the university, Folkers worked as a trainee at the office of the German architect Georg Lippsmeier – founder and owner of the L+P architects and the Institute for Tropical Building. An important turning-point in his early career as an architect and urban planner was his traineeship during the years 1984–1985 at the Direction Générale de l’Urbanisme et de la Topographie in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where he participated, among others, in the Wagadogo-Nossin District redevelopment and re-settlement project under the guidance of the Dutch urban planner Coen Beeker. [2] [4] After graduating from TU Delft, Folkers went on to work at the L+P architects' office in 1987 in Dar es Salaam, a city which also became his base for the next 25 years. In 1991 Folkers started an architectural partnership with Belinda van Buiten named as FBW after the British structural engineer Geoff Wilks joined the partnership in 1993. The company was divided in 2000 into FBW Group with its HQ in Uganda and Manchester and FBW Architects in the Netherlands. [5] In years 1994 to 2014 Folkers collaborated closely with a project team including Belinda van Buiten, Thierry van Baggem and Saskia van Haren. Folkers continues to work in the Netherlands together with van Buiten as FBW Architects and as an independent architect and consultant in Africa. [2]

Architecture and urban planning

Folkers’ work in the Netherlands focuses primarily on projects of socio-cultural nature and health care. Notable projects realized in the Netherlands are visitor centres in nature reserves, temporary shelter for homeless people Omnizorg [6] [7] in Apeldoorn and the restoration of Jongerius Villa [8] in Utrecht. In Africa, Folkers’ works on projects primarily in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zanzibar. Notable architectural and urban projects are the Msasani Slipway complex in Dar es Salaam, Michenzani Green Corridors Plan and Mtoni Palace conservation project in Zanzibar. [9]

ArchiAfrika and African Architecture Matters

In 2001 Folkers founded together with Berend van der Lans, Belinda van Buiten, Janneke Bierman and Joep Mol the NGO ArchiAfrika. The underlying aim of the NGO was to give Africa a more prominent place in the debate surrounding architecture. [10] Early activities of the organization focused in particular on research concerning modern architecture in Africa.Together with ArchiAfrika, he initiated a series of conferences in years 2005-2009 known under the common name African Perspectives. Other notable ArchiAfrika projects are the documentary featuring the Tanzanian architect Anthony Almeida Many Words for Modern: Survey of Modern Architecture in Tanzania and Stars of Dar. After a decade of activity, the organization was handed over to a new Africa based team under the chairmanship of Joe Addo and has henceforth continued its operations from Ghana. In 2010 Folkers and van der Lans established the NGO African Architecture Matters (AAM).

Research

Folkers’ reflections on architecture and building in Africa were presented in the publication Modern Architecture in Africa. [11] [12] The book gives an account of Folkers' personal experience from work on the continent as an architect and urban planner and provides an outline, analysis, and comparison of a number of projects which are sat in the broader context of the history of African architecture.

In years 2006-2010 Folkers was involved in a research and conservation project on the Mtoni Palace located on the western coast of the Unguja Island (Zanzibar) which resulted in the publication Mtoni. Palace, Sultan & Princes of Zanzibar. His research on Zanzibar has also been concerned with the architecture and urban planning of Karume's Revolutionary Government. More recently, through the projects of AAM, he has also been involved in research on the urban history of Zanzibar Town.

Notable projects

Masterplanning and urban planning

Restoration

Health and education

Prizes and awards

Major publications and articles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dar es Salaam</span> Largest city in Tanzania and capital of Dar es Salaam Region

Dar es Salaam or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over six million people, Dar is the largest city in East Africa and the seventh-largest in Africa. Located on the Swahili coast, Dar es Salaam is an important economic centre and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania</span> Country in East Africa

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Transport in Tanzania includes road, rail, air and maritime networks. The road network is 86,472 kilometres (53,731 mi) long, of which 12,786 kilometres (7,945 mi) is classified as trunk road and 21,105 kilometres (13,114 mi) as regional road. The rail network consists of 3,682 kilometres (2,288 mi) of track. Commuter rail service is in Dar es Salaam only. There are 28 airports, with Julius Nyerere International being the largest and the busiest. Ferries connect Mainland Tanzania with the islands of Zanzibar. Several other ferries are active on the countries' rivers and lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zanzibar</span> Autonomous part of Tanzania

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodoma</span> Capital of Tanzania

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilimanjaro International Airport</span> Airport in located in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania

Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) (IATA: JRO, ICAO: HTKJ) is an international airport located in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The airport serves the cities of Arusha and Moshi. The airport handled 802,731 passengers in 2014 and mainly serves regional flights as well as a few long-haul services due to its importance as a leisure destination. It is the largest airport in northern Tanzania, by size and passenger volume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Tanzania</span> History of music in Tanzania

As it is in other countries, the music in Tanzania is constantly undergoing changes, and varies by location, people, settings and occasion. The five music genres in Tanzania, as defined by BASATA are, ngoma, dansi, kwaya, and taarab, with bongo flava being added in 2001. Singeli has since the mid-2000ss been an unofficial music of uswahilini, unplanned communities in Dar es Salaam, and is the newest mainstream genre since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bagamoyo</span> Port city and National Historic Site of Tanzania

Bagamoyo, is a historic coastal town founded at the end of the 18th century, though it is an extension of a much older Swahili settlement, Kaole. It was chosen as the capital of German East Africa by the German colonial administration and it became one of the most important trading ports for the Germans along the East African coast along the west of the Indian Ocean in the late 19th and early 20th century. Today, it is the capital of the Bagamoyo District in Pwani Region. In 2011, the town had 82,578 inhabitants.

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References

  1. Apostos, Michelle ‘Examining African Architecture through the modernist lense’. In: Journal of Architectural Education (JAE) 68:2, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Visscher, Robert ‘Tropenarchitect met vleugje idealisme.’ In : Delta, No.19, 2008.
  3. "Antoni Scholtens Folkers". 2012-12-21.
  4. Folkers, Modern Architecture in Africa, p. 99-140.
  5. "FBW Architecten :: FBW architecten".
  6. Klooster, Indira van ‘t (ea) ‘Opvangcentrum Omnizorg Apeldoorn. FBW Architecten, Utrecht.’ In: Architectuur NL No.01, 2009.
  7. Sligter, Anja ‘Omnizorg verschaft bed, brood èn een carrière. In : De Volkskrant, 24.04.2009.
  8. Berg, Ton van den ‘Panden Jongerius Kanaalweg verdienen restauratie.’ In : Algemeen Dagblad, 05.09.2006.
  9. "FBW Architecten :: Architecture & Urbanism".
  10. "Interview with Antony Folkers of ArchiAfrika". 2011-09-23.
  11. Pensa, Iolanda ‘Africa, oltre i luoghi comuni.’ In : Domus, No.954, January 2012.
  12. "Africa, looking beyond the clichés".
  13. Hannema, Kirsten ‘Multi-focus reception centre, Apeldoorn.’ In : A10 Magazine, No.9, 2006.