Wednesday May 2, 2018
By Abdi Latif Dahir
Ruins of the Mogadishu cathedral (EPA/Dai Kurokawa)
Mogadishu is a battle-ravaged capital, the epicenter of the over two-decade civil war that scattered millions of Somalis across the world. Once a beautiful seaside city, its lone cathedral, ancient mosques, luxury hotels and government offices now remain empty shells hosting internally displaced people.
But a new initiative wants to document and preserve the city’s architectural heritage by digitally restoring these monuments and ruins. Known as Somali Architecture (SA), the project is led by a team of Somali architecture students living in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States. The goal is to reimagine how Mogadishu once functioned as a modern African capital, and to help audiences reimagine how relevant cultural, political, and historical statues and buildings were created.
Yusuf Shegow, a co-creator of the venture, says he was inspired to kickstart it after working on a class project mapping and digitally recreating the city of Manchester in the UK where he lives. The process of researching, redrawing and rendering showed him that one could relive history—if not on a physical scale, then at least on a virtual level.“I want us to learn from our past,” Shegow, who left Somalia as a young
child after the civil war broke out, tells Quartz. Reconstructing these
structures, he added, was as much a process of learning as it was about
emotional longing for a home that never was. “I left home but home never
left me.”
So far, the team has produced up to 15 3D models including the former
parliament, the national theater, the monument of the unknown soldier,
and the Mogadishu lighthouse.
These animated digital reconstructions are being developed at a time
when Somalia undergoes a political, economic, and technological
transformation. As a semblance of peace takes hold, foreign tourists are
also visiting the country to witness the impact of the civil war and to
see what remains of historic monuments like the ones SA is recreating.
Some memorial sites and government offices have also been renovated,
while the nation’s first post-civil war memorial is set to be erected in
memory of those who died in its deadliest-ever attack last year.
Shegow and his team hope to hold an exhibition in July showcasing the virtual models in order to turn more attention to the rebuilding of Mogadishu. They also want to engage the government so that they can oversee sustainable urban planning and appreciate the enduring qualities of architecture. This is important, Shegow says, especially at a time when many Somalis are looking to understand the past to reimagine their future. “There’s hope.”