This week, we are obsessing over the Dyeji Building, designed by renowned Architecture studio: Costa Lopes. 

The Dyeji building is an 8-storey mixed-use building which is part of the Bay of Luanda Parcel 3 development scheme. It is located in the most narrow area of Cape Island, a sandspit – off the shore of Luanda.

The scheme consists of a total of 57 plots with the building being one of the most central blocks – providing fantastic views over the coastline.

In 2015, the uniquely shaped geometric zigzag structure was completed, and it spans a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 12,153 sqm. It consists of 28 apartments, each with 2 or 3 fronts of sun exposure. 

In the design of the building, which has 1 office floor and 7 residential floors, the asymmetry of the facade planes together with the somewhat angular windows make for an expressive corpus that can be likened to a huge music staff. Over the course of the day, the sunlight creates and recreates the multiplicity of games of light and shade. This brings to life the great partiture that features variations of scales, meter signatures, interruptions and silences. 

According to Angolan expert, Adérito Miranda in a story published in 2006 in Jornal Cultura, the word “Dyeji” is of Bantu origin and means “moon” – referring to the movement of the star as opposed to the sun.