ArchiAfrika

The Board of ArchiAfrika is formed by:

Antoni Folkers - Chairman
Berend van der Lans - Secretary
Wim Wienk – Treasurer
Bernadette Huizinga
Annemieke de Kler
Dick Malaba

Antoni Folkers graduated in 1986 as an architect and urban planner at Delft University. He is not only co-founder of ArchiAfrika, but also of FBW architects & engineers, Utrecht (1991), Dar es Salaam (1994) and Kampala (1997). His engagement to African architecture started in the eighties when he was living and working as an architect in Tanzania and Uganda and has never left him ever since.

Berend van der Lans, co-founder of ArchiAfrika, is the secretary of our board, responsible for various managerial tasks as well as ArchiAfrika’s financial status. He graduated at Eindhoven University (1992) at the department of architecture and urban planning. Berend and Antoni have been working since 1997 in Dar es Salaam and Utrecht. Their mutual strong engagement for African architecture has been the base for many of the initiatives that ArchiAfrika has undertaken since its foundation. As of 2000 Berend is employed at Rijnboutt van der Vossen Rijnboutt.

Bernadette Huizinga studied building engineering and graduated on a housing need assessment in Tanzania and has ever since frequently visited the continent either for holidays or because of her former employment at a consultancy firm that delivered advisory services in the urban sector worldwide. Prior to this, she worked at a Dutch architectural office for five years. Bernadette is currently employed at the International Institute for Communication and Development, for which she will be visiting Tanzania frequently. She hopes that she will be able to contribute to achieving the goals set and that ArchiAfrika will consolidate into a solid platform for knowledge on African Architecture.

Dick Malaba is the only member of our board with African roots. Born in Kenya and educated at Nabunali High School in Mbale Uganda, he studied in the Netherlands and got his master in Urban Geography in 2005 at Utrecht University. With his expertise in urban geography he is a valuable member of our board and the fact that he masters many East African languages such as Kiswahili, Luhya, Pokot and Turkana, might come of use too. He temporarily moved back to Kenya but we are hoping to welcome him back soon.

William Wienk, treasurer of the board, was based in Africa for several years. Within the framework of development cooperation he served at the Ministry of Agriculture in Kenya. Later he was stationed at the Dutch volunteers field office in Bamako, Mali. Thereafter he joined the ING banking group. Since 1990 he is employed at the Dutch Development Bank (FMO). Here he has assumed several functions. Currently he heads the Asian operations of the bank.

Annemieke de Kler studied International Arts Administration in Banff, Canada. In 1990 she joined the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) in Rotterdam as general manager and advisor of the director. In the period 1997-2001 she was a project manager of South African Seasons, a NAI manifestation about South African architecture and urban planning, and the exhibition Blank_____Architecture, apartheid and after. While working on these projects her already existing passion and engagement for African architecture in all its forms increased even further. Together with Kristin Feireiss Annemieke is the co-founder of the International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam. Since 2005 she has her own company for Arts & Architecture Consultancy and Productions in The Hague.