Mariam Issoufou collaborates with CB2

Mariam Issoufou has collaborated with CB2 to design products that form part of their Black In Design Collective. The Collective is a global collection of works from Black artists and designers, curated in partnership with Evan Jerry of Studio ANANSI.

Products that Mariam Issoufou designed as part of the collection include the The Randa Bronze Blackened Cast Aluminum Vase. The vase consists of five sand-cast aluminum vessels that are welded together to form a sculptural piece. Inspired by African clay jars traditionally used for storing grain or carrying, purifying and cooling down drinking water, cylindrical vessel can be used to display dried or faux botanicals.

"The references to water and grain storage are essentially about scarcity and the collective labors necessary for a community's survival from season to season in arid contexts," explained Mariam Issoufou.

The Randa Bronze Blackened Cast Aluminum Vase can be purchased here.

50 Most Powerful Women in Architecture and Design

50 Most Powerful Women in Architecture and Design

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Dezeen compiled a list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Architecture and Design. We are proud that Mariam Issoufou is one of the architects on the list, particularly among so many architects and designers whose work she admires.

Read the rest of the list.

100 Most Influential Africans

Mariam Issoufou is one of the creatives on the 2023 list of Africa’s Most Influential People.

We are looking for an Executive Assistant

Executive Assistant Job Description

Mariam Issoufou Architects is an architecture design and research firm with a design studio in New York and headquarters in Niamey, Niger. The firm was founded by Mariam Issoufou 10 years ago with a desire to build a research-based architectural practice rooted firmly in the context of its projects. We tackle public, cultural, residential, commercial and urban design projects in Africa and around the world, with projects spread between Niger, Liberia, Sharjah, Brazil, Switzerland and the US.

We are looking for an Executive assistant to work directly under Mariam Issoufou in New York. This is a part-time contracting position requiring 20hrs per week commitment paid at $21/hour. There is a possibility to transition to full-time employment eventually.

Executive Assistant Responsibilities

• Monitor emails

• Writing and/or editing emails on behalf of executive

• Maintaining schedule (speaking engagement, commitment deadlines, meetings, etc)

• Responding to speaking invitation requests and collating all information (travel, format, honorariums, etc)

• Scheduling meetings and taking meeting minutes

• Social media management

• Maintaining contact list

• Organize and assist with work dinners and events

• Making Travel arrangements

• Organizing and maintaining files

• Performing minor accounting duties

• Basic bookkeeping

• Invoicing

• Running contractor payroll

• Organize and Send company holiday gifts

Executive Assistant Requirements

• 5+ years of administrative experience

• Creative problem solver

• Attention to detail

• Highly organized

• Extremely professional• Tech savvy

• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, proof reading/editing skills

• Ability to multitask and prioritize competing projects with a meticulous attention to detail

• Ability to handle the stress of working in a dynamic, fast paced environment

• Energetic and engaging; able to establish a strong rapport with clients and multiple levels of staff

• Ability to take initiative and be proactive to further to goals of the executive

• Being alert for opportunities to improve processes and procedures, have the confidence to make decisions, and adopt new ways of working to support your Executive and the organization’s objectives.

• Experience in design industry is a big plus

Please send your CV to recruitment@ateliermasomi.com

Kinfolk 50th anniversary issue

Issue 50 of Kinfolk celebrates community. Mariam Issoufou Kamara is interview about her practice and ho she is building the ruins of the future.

AD100 2024: Middle East and Africa

AD100 2024 list: Italy

Mariam Issoufou shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2023

A Lot With Little

A Lot With Little showcases the work of international architects from the Global North and the Global South, engaged in sustainable solutions for housing, education, transformation of existing buildings and disaster-relief. It features projects with a social dimension that have had a positive impact on the community.

The contributing architects provide multiple interpretations of a common mindset, overcoming a lack of resources with creative ingenuity.

Read more.

Casa Vogue Brazil

In the October issue of Casa Vogue Brazil, Mariam Issoufou spoke to Ana Luisa Cardoso about her work, including her chair at ETH Zurich as well as upcoming projects.

Mariam Issoufou receives Architizer Impact Award

At this year’s Architizer A+ Awards, held at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Mariam Issoufou was honoured with the Impact in Design Award.

Forbes Afrique interview

Mariam Issoufou: Activism-Based Architecture at atelier masōmī

Konfekt magazine Issue 11

Mariam Issoufou Kamara was interviewed by Stella Roos of Konfekt magazine at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennial. Konfekt is a quarterly magazine founded by the creators of Monocle. Stella and photographer Andrea Pugiotto visited our installation in the Central Pavillion titled Process. The installation formed part of this year’s biennial which was curated by Lesley Lokko under the theme of the Laboratory of the Future.Process was inspired by Mariam’s childhood memories of witnessing Neolithic engravings in the mountains and caves of the Sahara desert, where she grew up.

Click here to find our more about the magazine and get Issue 11

Neue Zurcher Zeitung interview

Architect to Architect

Monocle on Design podcast

Press release: atelier masōmī unveils a new installation titled Process at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Process by atelier masōmī  presented at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo by Matteo de Mayda. Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

For immediate release: atelier masōmī unveils a new site-specific installation titled Process at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Lesley Lokko. Conceived by Mariam Issoufou Kamara in response to this year’s theme of The Laboratory of the Future, Process delves into atelier masōmī’s architectural approach to reveal the inner monologue, inspiration and non-normative design perspectives that drive Kamara as she grapples with issues of design justice.

Kamara said, “Process is an echo of the past.” The installation narrows in on several precedents from West Africa, placing them in conversation with models of current projects like Hikma Community Complex in Niger and future projects like Bët-bi Art Museum in Senegal and the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center For Women and Development in Liberia. “I chose not to reprint source material but rather to reproduce it as large-scale hand drawings to make it mine, ours. The wall drawings are a homage to the Neolithic engravings I grew up visiting in the mountains and caves of the Sahara desert. Experiencing them so early in my life gave me a deeper sense of my history and its importance. Process is in some ways about taking back control of knowledge that belongs to us but that lives in books and museums far away,” said Kamara.

With Process Kamara wanted to critique who currently holds knowledge about our history and who has access to it, “As such, the installation introspects on how knowledge disseminates to those who have endured a process of erasure of knowledge, history and identity. It hints at global histories of power and domination.” Three videos, including Compressed Earth by artist Jennifer Hsu (which was shot during the opening of the Hikma Community Complex in Dandaji in 2018), take the viewer behind the scenes to offer glimpses into the context, inspiration, and people who are impacted by atelier masōmī’s work.

“The whole exhibition is the inner monologue that drives me as I struggle through issues of design justice. It is about how the work that emerges from my internal dialogue and critique does so across multiple symbolisms, geographies and temporalities in order to produce something of the present but also hints at the future.”

The 2023 Venice Architecture Biennial is currently open and closes on Sunday 26 November 2023.

END

Note to Editors

About Mariam Issoufou Kamara

Mariam Issoufou Kamara is an architect from Niger who studied architecture at the University of Washington. In 2014, she founded atelier masōmī, an architecture and research practice that tackles public, cultural, residential, commercial and urban design projects. The firm’s headquarters are in Niamey, with a smaller office handling design projects in New York. Kamara believes that architects have an important role to play in creating spaces that elevate, give dignity, and provide people with a better quality of life. The firm’s award-winning projects include the Hikma Community Complex, Niamey 2000 Housing and the Dandaji Regional Market. Upcoming projects include the Yantala Office and the Niamey Cultural Centre. Kamara is a professor of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability at ETH Zurich. The New York Times named her as one of 15 Creative Women of Our Time. The firm has been on the AD100 list since 2021. 

For press information and more images, please contact:

 Neo Maditla

Communications lead | atelier masōmī

E. neo@ateliermasomi.com

Mariam Issoufou featured in La Repubblica

Mariam Issoufou Kamara was recently featured in Italian publication, La Repubblica where she spoke about Venice Architecture Biennale as well as our projects Bët-bi Museum, Hikma and Dandaji Market.

Mariam Issoufou featured in Abitare Magazine

Abitare Magazine profiles African architects, including Mariam Issoufou, ahead of the 2023 Venice architecture Biennale.