Burkinabé architect Francis Kere builds sustainable cultural centre in Senegal
The Goethe-Institut’s new German cultural centre in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, is a perfect example of sustainable architecture.
It is the work of Francis Kere, a citizen of both Burkina Faso and Germany, and the only African to have won the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture.
Using local bricks and cooled mostly by passive ventilation, it is built around a courtyard featuring a large baobab, a symbol of the region.
The trademark of Kere’s Berlin-based firm are simplicity, use of local materials, a commitment to Africa, and design principles that are simultaneously aesthetic and comfortable.
His work began on the continent using bioclimatic principles that take into account climate conditions and available local resources.
But he has subsequently expanded to Europe and the Americas with major new projects now as far afield as Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro.
Speaking at the Goethe building inauguration, he said he loves a challenge.
“If you give me sand, mud, and bamboo, I can guarantee you I will create a project for you. If you add steel, okay, I will go further. If you give me water that I can mix them again, oh, it may be that we create something fantastic,” he said.
Using local materials
Originally from the small Burkina village of Gando, Kere travelled to Germany on a carpentry scholarship before staying to study architecture.
His first building — with input and labour from those in the village — was the Gando Primary School, an award-winning schoolhouse completed in 2001 to help remedy his community’s lack of educational facilities.
He used local red clay and cement to make bricks that provide thermal protection in the hot climate and shielded the structure from rain with a large overhanging roof that towers above the building, rather than sitting atop it trapping heat.
Fast forward several decades and many of the same principles apply at the Goethe-Institut, a $4 million state-of-the-art building.
The bricks use west African red clay and are arranged in a perforated wall system that is not only attractive but allows for cross ventilation.
“We’ve convinced ourselves that glass and concrete, that these are the materials one must use, and that other alternatives aren’t even true alternatives, because they are for poor people,” Kere said.
Bioclimatic techniques
With the backing of policymakers and designers, however, bioclimatic techniques could easily be integrated into the urban fabric, Kere believes.
The energy crisis from the Strait of Hormuz’s closure points to the need for new ways, he added.
“Right here, we have alternatives that could serve our needs – namely, rethinking the way we build our cities and reducing our energy consumption,” Kere said.
“A well-executed earthen building can contribute significantly to achieving this.”
When a massive project cannot use earthen bricks throughout, such as Kere’s forthcoming new National Assembly building in Benin, “we will use concrete the way that is efficient,” he said.
Half a world away, Kere’s firm is behind the forthcoming downtown Las Vegas Museum of Art.
He said the has thrust him into “a completely other world” but which will still use locally available resources like native red rock.
“I’m very surprised to see who is calling me to do projects,” he said, reflecting on his increasing global portfolio.
“The only thing that I’m worried about, and I’m working to not let it happen, is to be taken away from Africa.”
