Balmoi Abe

Balmoi Abe is a creative thinker/operational astronaut/space curator who views design as a platform to solve problems.

An Acumen and Human-Centered Design Fellow with a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Architecture from the acclaimed Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Balmoi has over 15 years of professional experience focusing his practice on four areas: Interior Architecture, Products, Art Direction, Project Management, Operations Management as well as Historic Preservation more recently.

Having worked and lived on three continents, Balmoi has a diverse cultural background, which is apparent in his work and process. His appreciation for heritage is borne of these adventures as he always looks to identify with a new region by studying its story to draw similarities with his own. Most of his work around construction is rooted in preservation; the desire to respect a place and its history.

His love for Anthropology, vintage and the study of the old vs new led him to found the Matter Open Lab (MOL) in 2017. MOL is a platform for collective partnerships and collaborations around three pillars of Preservation, Culture and Heritage across Africa. He serves as its director to-date.

He previously co-founded the Cave Bureau, a design bureau that provides a variety of creative services in architecture, interior, landscape, and furniture, as well as provides a collaborative space where creators explore new ways to meet the needs of densely-populated urban and peri-urban communities through design.

*Away from his desk, you are likely to find him on his mountain bike exploring whichever area his travels take him, digging up the crop of the season on his farm in Uganda, or experimenting with clay work on the beaches of the River Nile.