Issa diabate
Architect Issa Diabaté is the Managing Director of Koffi & Diabaté Architects
and co-founder of the Koffi & Diabaté Group based in the Ivory Coast. A
member of Côte d’Ivoire’s National Council of the Order of Architects (CNOA),
Diabaté has evolved in the design world, with his work recognized at Dakar’s
1998 Contemporary Art Biennale.
B
ased in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Issa Diabaté works alongside business
partner and fellow architect, Guillaume Koffi, in one of the city’s most
exclusive practices, Koffi-Diabaté. They have worked on projects in
Abidjan, Dakar and Bamako.
A Master in Architecture graduate from Yale University, Issa Diabaté is
the Managing Director of Koffi & Diabaté Architects and co-founder of
the Koffi & Diabaté Group. In the early 90’s, he interned at architecture
firms in Côte d’Ivoire (Goly Kouassi), the United States (Dureaux and
Purenell) and France (Jean Nouvel et Catani) where he took part in the
Cité Judiciaire de Nantes contest.
In 1994, he joined SAU Guillaume Koffi as an architect intern and was appointed
architectural projects manager a year later, eventually partnering with its founder,
Guillaume Koffi, to create Koffi & Diabaté Architects. A Member of Côte d’Ivoire’s
Order of Architects, Diabaté’s design work was recognised at Dakar’s 1998
Contemporary Art Biennale.
“In countries where industries are
less developed, you always have a
chance to impact them positively,
which is really encouraging for
architecture on the continent”
– Issa Diabaté, Koffi & Diabaté Group
16 africandesignmagazine.com