INNOVATION AT THE SERVICE OF COMMUNITYPROJECTS IN AFRICA_ Part 2

Education for everyone...

The innovative architecture has not left behind the importance of education. On education, Nelson Mandela could say “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. The parallel between what Mandela said and the poverty of many communities in Africa brings about crucial questions, such as how can architecture truly modify places and give children schools better conditions? Is it possible to give an architectural answer to very poor societies around the African Continent? Architects need to think about using architecture as a tool, even in places that lack money and building technologies, and Diébédo Francis Kéré is doing exactly that in Africa. In his home country, Burkina Faso, Diébédo Francis Kéré designed a primary school in Gando, in 2001, with a design reflecting an architectural style that combines traditional building techniques with modern engineering methods.

The design for the Primary School has developed from a lengthy list of parameters including cost, climate, resource availability, and construction feasibility. In order to maximize results with the minimal resources available, a clay/mud hybrid construction was primarily used.

These traditional clay-building techniques were modified and modernized in order to create a more structurally robust construction in the form of bricks. The clay bricks have the added advantage of being cheap, easy to produce, and also provide thermal protection against the hot climate. The roof of the Primary School has been pulled away from the learning space of the interior though, and a perforated clay ceiling with ample ventilation was introduced. This dry-stacked brick ceiling allows for maximum ventilation, pulling cool air in from the interior windows and releasing hot air out through the perforated ceiling. In turn, the ecological footprint of the school is vastly reduced by alleviating the need for air-conditioning.

The contribution of the entire community to build the school has been a step in the future with more possibilities, both for those who now have a decent building in which to learn (the school) and for those who now know how to build this building.