A few nights ago, I was lucky enough to join Neema Mgana and architect Gaston Tolila at the National Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in NYC where the Ipuli Media Complex was selected as one of the best designs of the past three years.

The Triennial brings together the experimental designs and emerging ideas-including animation, new media, and fashion, robotics, architecture, product, medical, and graphic design-at the center of American culture from 2003 to 2006.

Gaston Tolila and his partner Nicholas Gilliland are architects from Paris who are designing the Ipuli Medical Complex in Tanzania after teaming up with Cameron Sinclair’s Architecture for Humanity who in turn met with Neema Mgana at the 2005 Pop!Tech.

Pop!Tech wants to congratulate Neema, Gaston and Nicholas and everyone involved in this remarkable project. It is truly inspiring not only to see this endeavor come to fruition, but also to see it receive the attention and accololades it deserves.

Gaston and exhibit vistor

Close up of Ipuli Medical Complex model

Gaston and Neema

models and sketches of the first building of the complex