
22/04/2025
Calabash, Code & Concrete: Designing Africa’s Next Cities.
From the humble calabash to cutting-edge code, Africa’s design narrative has always danced between past and future. As we stand at the edge of a new urban awakening, the calabash—our timeless agwata—becomes more than a vessel. It becomes a metaphor for how we build, connect, and live.
Design Week Africa 2025, set in —Kenya’s smart city in the making—isn’t just a celebration of design. It’s a live canvas, a real-time laboratory, and a cultural statement. This year’s theme, “Innovative Design for Quality Living,” finds its soul in the Agwata Experience—an immersive, calabash-inspired journey into design that is communal, functional, and deeply African. The Agwata, after all, has carried water, wisdom, and welcome across generations—symbolizing unity, resourcefulness, and continuity.