Mariam Issoufou is an architect and professor of Architecture Heritage and Sustainability at ETH Zurich, where she leads a design studio and a research team. She founded a project focused on a platform for knowledge restitution and, in her pedagogy, critically examines the racializing processes embedded in the production of space. Previously, she held academic roles as adjunct associate professor of Urban Studies at Brown University and served as the 2021 Aga Khan critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In addition to her academic role, she founded the architectural firm Mariam Issoufou Architects, which has offices in Niamey, New York, and Zurich. In her creative practice, research, and pedagogy she interrogates the racialising process embedded in the production of space. The firm tackles public, cultural, residential, commercial, and urban design projects. The firm’s completed projects in Niger include the Rolex Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Hikma Community Complex, Niamey 2000, and Dandaji Regional Market. Upcoming projects include Yantala Office in Niger, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development in Liberia, and Bët-bi Museum in Senegal. The firm has received numerous accolades including the Hikma Community Complex being awarded two LafargeHolcim Awards for sustainable architecture, while Niamey 2000 was shortlisted for the 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
