Overview
David Muoka Mutiso was born in Kenya in 1932 and attended Alliance High School from 1949 to 1952. After an initial period at Makerere University and work as a draughtsman with Nairobi City Council, he won a government bursary to study architecture at the University of Sheffield. He graduated in 1959, completed postgraduate study in urban planning and became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1960. His early professional training included work with J. L. Womersley in Sheffield, experience in Italy and work with Richard Hughes in Kenya.
Mutiso joined Kenya’s public service in the early post-independence period and rose to become Chief Architect in the Ministry of Public Works in 1967. In that role he worked across public architecture, planning and housing and played a central part in the conception and development of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, collaborating with Norwegian architect Karl Henrik Nøstvik. His own 2013 account describes developing the early sketches and presenting the project during regular briefings with President Jomo Kenyatta. He left government in the mid-1970s and subsequently established Mutiso Menezes International with Bas Menezes.
His later work included the United Nations complex at Gigiri, the Kenya Technical Teachers College and the multi-phase Buruburu housing development, alongside other institutional, housing and planning commissions. Mutiso was a founding member of the Architectural Association of Kenya, served as its chairman, chaired the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors, served as chairman of the Association of Professional Societies in East Africa from 1975 to 1977 and participated in the East African Institute of Architects and Commonwealth Association of Architects. He also served as an external examiner in architecture schools outside Kenya. Mutiso died in Nairobi in 2025 at the age of 93.
