Kenyan developers often draw their inspiration from their surroundings mimicing nature as it is the best architect. The concept is known as biomimicry, and it continues to inspire designers, engineers and architects around the world as they observe how nature solves complex design challenges.
In Kenya, there are various iconic buildings that resemble natural organisms, emulating nature’s patterns and strategies. These include:
1. Kenyatta International Convention Center( KICC)
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KICC is home to important government offices. It is also a renowned venue for conferences and special events in the city as such as music concerts. The iconic building was a brainchild of former President Jomo Kenyatta, who in 1967, tasked two architects to design Africa’s tallest building at the time.
Karl Henrik Nøstvik, a Norwegian architect, is claimed to have used a donkey’s penis as a template to design what was initially intended to be the headquarters of the ruling party, Kenya African National Union (KANU), before it became the 32-floor international convention centre it is at the moment.
He would liaise with David Mutiso, the first African architect in the then Ministry of Public Works to bring the design to life. In later years, Mutiso claimed credit for the design and a report by Africa Check later debunked the assertions confirming that that the Norwegian was the man behind the designs. His inspiration was also confirmed to be from an “open and closed lotus flower” and was supported by the building’s blueprints.
2. Lilian Towers , Nairobi
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The 16-storey Lilian Towers located on Koinange Street/University Way junction in Nairobi CBD is a modern office building which also draws similarities with nature, resembling a maize cob.
The building, which houses the famous Nairobi Safari Club, bears a striking resemblance to a maize cob with each of the rooms’ exterior taking after the beeswing of a cob. The architectural style combines functionality with aesthetic appeal, contributing to Nairobi’s skyline.
3. StartUp Lions Campus
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Diébédo Francis Kéré of Kéré Architecture was called upon by an German NGO to design an ICT hub in the arid Turkana region. He then noticed that the site was surrounded by termite mounds in the rocky terrain.
He used his expertise to design the Startup Lions Campus in synergy with the termite hills, taking inspiration from them both in architectural form and methods.
“The design is inspired by some of the best architects around, termites,” Kéré explained. “We wanted to build something that mirrored their incredible structures. This is how the wind towers came about. On a functional level we wanted to provide an open, interactive learning environment and to give students as much space as possible to move, meet and be comfortable.”
Like the termite mounds, the building is made from rock directly from the site. The three geometrical towers that emerge from the building’s mounds are both aesthetic and purposeful, and part of the passive ventilation system that avoids air conditioning in a building full of electrical equipment.
The Burkina Faso native architect received the 2022 Laureate of architecture for the design of this iconic campus among other notable projects.
4. UNEP headquarters, Gigiri
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In line with their commitment to environmental conservation, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) offices in Gigiri are housed in a building designed to harmonize with nature. It is a green building designed to be a completely energy and carbon-neutral.
The building recycles water and uses natural light to reduce over-reliance on artificial lighting.
In addition, the building is designed to use natural flow of air as a substitute to air conditioning to cut on energy costs and contains solar panels to generate energy that the building consumes.
5. Catholic University of East Africa Library
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The CUEA library’s design is inspired by nature’s air conditioning strategies by employing a bedrock cooling system. This system utilizes the stable, cool temperatures of the ground beneath the building to regulate indoor temperatures. By circulating water through pipes embedded in the bedrock, the system absorbs and transfers heat away from the building, maintaining a comfortable environment while reducing reliance on traditional air conditioning.
This eco-friendly approach helps lower energy consumption and minimize the library’s environmental footprint.
The university’s energy efficient design is the only bedrock cooling system in Kenya.
