What is the current, emerging research in architecture, design and urbanism across the African continent? Which lessons can other global cultures learn from what is being envisioned and tested in Africa today? What further insights emerge when these questions are reframed through the lens of the diaspora?
The forthcoming issue of TPJ, Africa, invites contributions that engage with these questions while recognising Africa as one of the “most diverse places on the planet, both culturally and geographically.” [Kamara,2021, p. 186-87] At a moment of rapid urban growth and striking demographic dynamism, the issue positions Africa not as a peripheral field of study, but as a “territory of the mind” [Boulton,1975; Thiong’o, 1986]: a space of deep history, rich material culture, articulated anthropologies, varied landscapes and urgent innovation.
Echoing the curators of the first Pan-African Biennale, Shifting the Center: From Fragility to Resilience (Nairobi, 2026), the call for paper positions Africa “not at the periphery of global architectural discourse, but at its center”: not merely as a recipient of imported models, but as “a site of spatial intelligence, epistemic innovation, and future-making.”
The Plan Journal welcomes research, pedagogical reflection and practice-based work that explores how African and diasporic spatial logics are transforming architecture, design, urbanism and landscape. Contributions may address indigenous knowledge, material culture, community-building, urban transformation, decolonisation, resilience, experimental practice, and new vocabularies of form and value, advancing a necessary conversation on Africa’s role in shaping global architectural culture.
For the full call for paper and instructions see: https://theplanjournal.com/content/africa
Timeline
Proposals due by June 15, 2026
Preliminary feedback sent by June 29, 2026
All complete manuscripts due by September 7, 2026
Accepted and edited manuscripts expected to be published on-line by January 18, 2027
Printed version of the issue expected to be available by February 22, 2027
Questions can be directed to: tpj@theplanjournal.com