How My African Aesthetic Is Reimagining Design and Placemaking Across Borders | Eunice Nanzala Schumacher

What does it mean to design from an African perspective? And how do questions of identity, belonging, and culture shape the spaces we create? In this episode, I speak with Eunice Nanzala Schumacher, architect and founder of My African Aesthetic, about how her experiences living between Uganda and Norway inspired a deeper exploration of African aesthetics, design philosophy, and placemaking. Through conversations with architects, artists, designers, and community-builders from across Africa and its diasporas, Eunice has been documenting the ideas, histories, and practices that shape how people create meaningful places and communities. Together, we explore: • What African aesthetics can teach us about design, community, and belonging • How identity and culture influence the spaces we build and inhabit • Insights from previous seasons of the My African Aesthetic podcast and platform • The role of diaspora experiences in shaping contemporary placemaking • Why documenting African knowledge systems and design traditions matters • Professor Mugendi's concept of "Africa with a K" and the importance of looking inward • What it means to create "home" across multiple places, cultures, and contexts • Whether an African placemaking toolbox is possible, and what it might contain Ultimately, this conversation explores what happens when different worlds meet. As ideas, identities, and cultural traditions move across borders, they reshape how we understand home, belonging, and place. It is a reminder that home is not always somewhere we return to: it is something we continually create.