ETH Studio Basel, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (eds.)

Nairobi, Kenya

Migration Shaping the City

Nairobi, in its short history spanning just over one hundred years, has grown to be one of the most varied and international cities of our contemporary world. Migration has been shown as one of the key forces influencing the city. In the context of Nairobi’s complex colonial and postindependence political trajectory, migration has reinforced ethnic, spatial, and economic differences, leading to the formation of multiple power structures. This process is evident in the city’s radically different urban patterns. The book documents, along specific neighborhoods, how different cultures of urban life constitute the city today.

Nairobi, in its short history spanning just over one hundred years, has grown to be one of the most varied and international cities of our contemporary world. Migration has been shown as one of the key forces influencing the city. In the context of Nairobi’s complex colonial and postindependence political trajectory, migration has reinforced ethnic, spatial, and economic differences, leading to the formation of multiple power structures. This process is evident in the city’s radically different urban patterns. The book documents, along specific neighborhoods, how different cultures of urban life constitute the city today.

Author(s): Manuel Herz, Shadi Rahbaran

Edited by ETH Studio Basel. Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron

Design: ETH Studio Basel, Integral Lars Müller

17,5 x 24 cm, 6 ¾ x 9 ½ in

176 pages, 211 illustrations

hardback

2014, 978-3-03778-375-7, English
CHF 25.00

Manuel Herz

Manuel Herz is an architect, based in Basel, Switzerland. Among his recently constructed buildings are the Jewish Community Center and Synagogue of Mainz (Germany) and the mixed-use building Legal / Illegal in Cologne. He is currently the head of teaching and research at ETH Studio Basel—Institute of the Contemporary City. Besides his work as a practicing architect, he researches and works in the field of architecture dedicated to humanitarian causes.

Shadi Rahbaran

Shadi Rahbaran is a practicing architect in Basel and has been involved in teaching and urban research at ETH Studio Basel with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron since 2007. After finishing her architecture studies at the University of Toronto, she worked at various offices including Bruce Mau Design in Toronto and OMA/Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam, Berlin, and Porto. She cofounded Rahbaran Hürzeler Architects in 2011 in Basel, has realized projects in Switzerland and Germany, and is involved in ongoing research and projects of a wide range in Europe and Asia. She has taught at Cornell University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has been a guest critic at various schools.