There are people who speak loudly, and those who speak clearly. Mamy Tall was the latter.
She knew who she was. And she wasn’t afraid to build from that truth.
“I knew I wanted to be an architect since I was 8 years old,” she once said, recalling a childhood filled with sketching, tinkering, and curiosity.
That energy never dimmed. It carried her through architectural studies in Montreal, past barriers in a male-dominated field, and into the heart of Senegal’s creative and public spheres.
“Becoming an architect allowed me to discover who I was” – Mamy Tall
Born in Dakar in 1992 and raised in Lomé, Togo, Mamy discovered architecture not just as a career path, but as a language. Her parents encouraged her early interest in sketching and structure, and a fateful meeting at age 12 with renowned architect Pierre Atepa Goudiaby sealed the deal.
After studying in Montréal, she returned to Senegal and quickly became known for work that was as thoughtful as it was forward-thinking. She contributed to the design of major public buildings including those in Diamniadio, Senegal’s new administrative city, but her focus was on purpose and not only on prestige.
She advocated for the use of local materials because they were honest. Earth, stone, clay: these weren’t relics of the past. In Mamy’s hands, they became the future.
She spoke often about the responsibility architects carry in shaping not just cities, but the societies that live within them.
You couldn’t talk about Mamy Tall without talking about her style. She wasn’t just well-dressed, she was intentional with it. Her look was part of her language. Effortless but sharp. Minimal but full of story. The kind of style that stayed with you. In Wallpaper’s profile of her architectural studio, Mamy herself spoke of fashion as a natural extension of her architecture.
Mamy Tall also designed and offered a new way of seeing buildings, one where African cities are worthy of care, where local materials are symbols of pride, where women lead without apology.
In 2014, she co-founded Dakar Lives, a digital platform that began as an Instagram page and grew into one of the most recognized creative projects on the continent. CNN, OkayAfrica, Konbini, and Hypebeast all took notice. But for Mamy, the heart of the project was simple: giving people a new lens through which to see their own city.
This ethos ran through everything she touched. In her photography, fashion collaborations, installations. It could be through her art directing a fashion campaign or curating a public space, her work invited us to slow down and look again.
Mamy Tall showed us how to imagine with purpose. And indeed she was more than an architect, she was cultural catalyst and a beacon of sustainable design. Now it’s our turn to carry that vision forward.
