NEW BLOOD 2021 is the brain child of Joe Osae-Addo, Ghanaian architect and key convener of contemporary African Architecture discourse who has supported African Architecture initiatives for the past 2 decades through the Africa based ArchiAfrika network.

NEW BLOOD 2021 is an exhibition which has its roots in the Los Angeles architecture scene in the 1990’s and curated by the larger than life Bernard Zimmerman and friends.

Thus begun a movement to establish a permanent exhibition space for Architecture and Design, culminating in the A+D Museum Los Angeles, where Joe Addo is credited as a founder. This current version does not pretend to be anything else but the African version, showcasing the next generation of African Architecture.

As with the original, the hope is that these young architects selected by Joe Addo, contribute to the Design Space for decades to come. Joe is very aware of how transformational the Los Angeles version of the 1990’s has been on his career and life.

The members of this group represent, in Addo’s eyes, critical next generation Voices who through their current work and explorations, will be contributing greatly to the African architecture landscape. Addo wants to use the Venice Architecture Biennale to showcase these dynamic minds from the Continent, some living and practicing there and others abroad but all have a keen eye to projecting their Africanness through their work.

Joe Addo strongly believes in promoting the Work of African and Diaspora architects, having been a recipient of that honour in an LA based exhibition of same name in 1994. Joe Addo believes that exhibition set into motion events that altered his career path for good. His ambition is to showcase and promote this group and others for decades to come.