Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi

A practice-led collaboration between James Muriuki and Constance Smith, “Excavation | Elevation” examines the excavations and extractions that make high-rise architecture possible. Focusing on the socio-geologies of Nairobi, it follows the city’s urban transformation above and below ground. As fi...

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Main Authors: Muriuki, James, Smith, Constance
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari 2025-07-01
Series:Lagoonscapes
Subjects:
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2025/01/003
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author Muriuki, James
Smith, Constance
author_facet Muriuki, James
Smith, Constance
author_sort Muriuki, James
collection DOAJ
description A practice-led collaboration between James Muriuki and Constance Smith, “Excavation | Elevation” examines the excavations and extractions that make high-rise architecture possible. Focusing on the socio-geologies of Nairobi, it follows the city’s urban transformation above and below ground. As fields become tower blocks, excavation and extraction, quarrying and land speculation underpin new high-rise skylines. But horizons can be fragile: buildings collapse and construction sites play host to new urban ecologies, as the underneath and the surface shape each other.
format Article
id doaj-art-0b0ffeb2fd37433d8816c9fdea997f8a
institution Kabale University
issn 2785-2709
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
record_format Article
series Lagoonscapes
spelling doaj-art-0b0ffeb2fd37433d8816c9fdea997f8a2025-08-20T03:51:24ZengFondazione Università Ca’ FoscariLagoonscapes2785-27092025-07-015110.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2025/01/003journal_article_26070Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in NairobiMuriuki, James0Smith, Constance1Visual practitioner, KenyaThe University of Manchester, UK A practice-led collaboration between James Muriuki and Constance Smith, “Excavation | Elevation” examines the excavations and extractions that make high-rise architecture possible. Focusing on the socio-geologies of Nairobi, it follows the city’s urban transformation above and below ground. As fields become tower blocks, excavation and extraction, quarrying and land speculation underpin new high-rise skylines. But horizons can be fragile: buildings collapse and construction sites play host to new urban ecologies, as the underneath and the surface shape each other. http://doi.org/10.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2025/01/003Construction. Extraction. High-rise housing. Nairobi. Urban anthropology
spellingShingle Muriuki, James
Smith, Constance
Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi
Lagoonscapes
Construction. Extraction. High-rise housing. Nairobi. Urban anthropology
title Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi
title_full Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi
title_fullStr Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi
title_full_unstemmed Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi
title_short Excavation | Elevation: Above and Below Ground in Nairobi
title_sort excavation elevation above and below ground in nairobi
topic Construction. Extraction. High-rise housing. Nairobi. Urban anthropology
url http://doi.org/10.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2025/01/003
work_keys_str_mv AT muriukijames excavationelevationaboveandbelowgroundinnairobi
AT smithconstance excavationelevationaboveandbelowgroundinnairobi