Cameroon: Caroline Barla

Born in 1958 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Caroline Barla is the second woman registered as an architect with L’Ordre National des Architectes du Cameroun (1986). She holds a diploma in architecture from the L’École Spéciale d’Architecture de Paris in Paris, France (1984). After graduation, she worked as a construction manager in MAETUR-ARAN in Douala, Cameroon (1984–1987) before establishing her own architectural agency in 1987, Création Espace et Bâtiments, also located in Douala; her agency transitioned to Caramelle in 1993, to CeB CréA in 2010, and to BARLABARLA Architectes in 2015. Barla worked as the Director of Studies and Pedagogy at L’École Supérieure Spéciale d’Architecture du Cameroun (l’ESSACA) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from 2009 to 2016. She has served as a member of the Conseil de L’Ordre (1994–1997) and as their Vice-President (2020–2022 and 2023–2026). She was awarded the title of Knight of the Cameroonian Order of Merit in 2010, and she is featured in the book 100 Women: Architects in Practice (2023).