Mogadishu rises from the ashes thanks to 3D heroes

A GROUP of young Somalian architecture graduates from Manchester are bringing the bombed-out buildings of Mogadishu to life in 3D.

Ahmed Mussa and three friends have spent the past three years meticulously recreating the capital’s most famous buildings, such as the former parliament, the national theatre and Mogadishu’s landmark lighthouse.

So far they have created 25 buildings which visitors to their website, www.somaliarchitecture.com, can enter in a virtual 3D world.

The project resulted in a major exhibition in London at the London Design Biennale called What Remains.

Ahmed, 27, who is an architectural technician, said: “The project started in 2015. A friend came to me with the idea and I’ve been on board since then. From there it was just a case of scouring social media and getting information from old pictures.

“The models try to show how Somalia used to be before the civil war.”

Together with Madina Scacchi, Iman Mohamed and Yusuf Shegow, the friends built the website and started work on recreating Mogadishu’s buildings in 3D.

“We did not have anything to go by with the plans so we had to estimate how big the buildings are,” said Ahmed.

“It took a lot of energy from the research, we had to guess the dimensions of buildings. It took a while to do one of them but then we became better and better.”

The models formed part of an exhibition at Somerset House in London last summer for three weeks. The four also have an Instagram account dedicated to the project and have been featured on the architecture website, ArchDaily.

“Most people were surprised it was information-based. We were trying to show people the world of Somalia before the war, trying to show something positive,” said Ahmed.

Mogadishu is often referred to as the ‘city of white pearl’ because of its distinctive architectural heritage which mixes influences from England and Italy.

Ahmed, who was born in Sweden but came to live in the UK when he was 12, said that doing the project has helped the group “understand where we come from” and has helped them connect with an older generation.

He said: “They grew up in that country. Some of the buildings are still in ruins and some are still standing. It is possible for people to use the models to rebuild them.

“I feel like the younger generation have not grown up to see the Somalia that used to be. It important to know where your parents are from and how culture and heritage is influential.”