Co³ – Collaboration for the Conservation of Coral Limestone – Data collection and processing as part of the ASA Global project

Overview

Since 2023, interdisciplinary teams comprising architecture and civil engineering students from Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam and the Karume Institute of Science and Technology in Zanzibar have been identifying, surveying, documenting and supplementing the very sparse literature and documentation on the architectural heritage of Stone Town in Zanzibar. This fundamental research is helping to improve the data available on the cultural heritage of Stone Town. (In May and September 2025, the findings were presented in the form of two exhibitions, amongst other things. The exhibition ‘CO3 – Built Heritage in Stone Town, Zanzibar’ was shown from 14 May to 6 June 2025 at the Bremen Centre for Building Culture and from 18 September to 13 November 2025 at the Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation Gallery in Zanzibar. It comprises drawings of six building typologies as well as two sectional models on a scale of 1:50. The identification, analysis and dissemination of further typologies are continuing. A (modular) urban planning model is being developed to situate the building typologies within the urban fabric and to understand the city’s distinctive character. However, reliable survey data is lacking to construct this model. The project builds on the ongoing dissemination of the typologies, whilst situating them within their urban context. As part of the funded ASA Global Project 2026, the city model is being developed by a small team of international and interdisciplinary students in Bremen and Stone Town. In order to gather the necessary data, we need to expand our networks by attending the SotM Africa conference in Dar es Salaam from 26–28 June 2026 (https://2025.stateofthemap.africa). In parallel, teaching activities are being used to develop concepts for the model’s future application in society. This concept development also builds on our collaboration with Prof. Dr Julia Verne (cultural geography) from the University of Mainz.