Doreen Adengo, Ugandan architect and trailblazer, passed away on July the 22nd of this year, after battling a long-term illness. She founded Adengo Architecture, a studio based out of her home city of Kampala. A designer who studied in the United States, worked in firms in New York, Washington, and London, and was teaching at Uganda Martyrs University – her legacy is nothing short of extraordinary. It is a legacy that spans disciplines and geographies – but a legacy, too, that is deeply rooted in the context of Africa, Uganda, and Kampala.
As an architectural firm, Adengo Architecture is relatively young, having been founded in 2015. Despite this youth, their ethos is clear, Adengo stating in an interview last year that they are “focused on communicating the value of design in African cities.” How this has been translated into architecture is through a diversity of architectural explorations, ranging from repurposing a shipping container in a truck into a mobile medical clinic to housing projects that have sought to take full advantage of their site’s topography.
