OSAC Archives
A record of a Sudanese architectural practice during a time of significant urban transformations.
A record of a Sudanese architectural practice during a time of significant urban transformations.
THE ARCHIVE
OSAC Archives
This publication provides, for the first time, a semi-complete record of the architectural works, especially residential, of a Sudanese architect. Professional architectural publications, related to the Sudanese context are still quite rare.
The book represents an exceptional and unique effort – when considering local Sudanese practice – of keeping such a thorough and organised record of practice. By doing so, the architect Omer Siddig Osman Abdelrahman (Omer Siddig Architectural Consultant (OSAC)) has presented us with a document that helps preserve the collective memory of the profession, the built environment and history.
This book shows how a unique form of residential development emerged as OSAC spent more than 20 years providing building solutions for dynamic family needs. The model that evolved was adopted and widely replicated; it allowed for the family to occupy the ground floor section while the upper levels comprised apartments for use by the adult children of the family.
This system replicated the model of homes of extended families in the rural areas from where most of Khartoum’s residents originated. While the practice did engage with other building types, this archive focuses mostly on small- to medium- scale residential developments.
THE ARCHITECT
Omer Siddig Osman
Sudanese architect, Omer Siddig, among others, played a part in developing the architectural identity of the city of Khartoum. He is a graduate of Khartoum University in the sixties and offers some of his reflections on his studies and academic and professional journey as part of this book.
Omer Siddig Osman was born and grew up a few kilometres away from old Meroe – the northern site of the ancient Nubian civilisation.
His village of origin is known as Elsayal, which is named after the Elsayal tree. It was an idyllic setting and it made for a peaceful existence. He progressed at school and at the age of sixteen the family moved to Kosti with his father who was a trader and owned a shop in the town.
Kosti was considered a border town and gateway to the then South of the Sudan. These two very different settings provided the context for his worldview and his outlook on life.
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We present a significant contribution to the documentation of African architecture; a practice that worked consistently for many years, was prolific in output and contributed to a densifying and transforming city at a critical time in its development.
As a city is being destroyed, this is an opportunity to reflect on what it will take to rebuild while studying a body of work spanning over forty years and mostly based in Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan.
Architect Omer Siddig's Khartoum home, designed by OSAC, drawing by Nathan Kabinga of Sketch n Cities.
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Preserving the Past, Building the Future: Celebrating Sudanese Architecture’s Enduring Legacy