The Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) is one of the iconic landmarks in the country and is a leading facility in hosting events, meetings and conferences both local and international ones.
The construction of KICC was commissioned by the country’s first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in 1967 and the 28-storey building was completed in 1973, making it the tallest building in Kenya.
Mzee Kenyatta presided over the opening ceremony of the tower in September 1973 .
However in 1999, a taller building, Teleposter towers, emerged taking the number one position. Soon after that, more and more taller buildings were set up with KICC completely being pushed away from the top positions, and no longer features in the top three tall buildings in Nairobi.
KICC was designed by an architect known as David Mutiso, who was the first African in the ministry of public works after the country got independence. He was also the first architect in the country having graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1959.
“I was called when I was chief architect by Tom Mboya, they wanted to build a headquarters for KANU. Jomo Kenyatta wanted something personal,” Mutiso recounted in a past interview with Citizen TV.
The design however evolved as every time they showed Kenyatta the project, he would ask them to make it higher. Initially, the target was to construct a 4-storey building.
KICC was constructed in three phases, with the first being the podium. The main tower came second and finally the plenary. The construction cost the government Kshs80 million.
According to Mutiso, the inspiration behind the construction of the tower was a donkey’s penis. Today, KICC houses several government offices.
Mutiso’s interest in architecture began while he was a student at Alliance Highschool. He was inspired into the profession when he saw his uncle light a fire using building plan blueprints.
Mutiso has a private architectural company that has designed several projects including the UN headquarters building. He however retired in 1994 but still practices privately.
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