What can Niger teach us about architecture?
The small west african nation of Niger is rarely mentioned outside the topics of development in Africa, but this beautiful country has some rich architecture and can serve as an example for the world when it comes to sustainable construction.
A bit about niger
Niger is one of the world’s poorest countries, with a GDP (PPP) per capita of around 1,200 dollars it ranks 187th in the world. From its 23 million people around 1.3 live in the capital city of Niamey, a place very few people now and even fewer have visited, but that holds some of best work in African Architecture, brought up specially by atelier masōm ī, which we`ll talk more about later.
A bit about united4design
United4Design is an architecture firm created in 2013 when a group of architects got together with the Sahar foundation to create a school for girls in Afghanistan. This project led them to deal with many questions and consider many solutions that otherwise might not have come to the mind of a western architect, such as the sourcing of local materials and the socioeconomical impact of their use, the way a building impacts the impression of class, status and prestige within a community and the impact that western ideas about architecture have on non-western nations.
Niamey 2000
This has to be my favourite project of the 2010`s. The building is 4 family residence that makes the most out of everything, the dirt bricks from which it is made are locally sourced and their manufacturing employed local workforce, which both reduced cost and gave a return to the community. Each family has their own private living spaces, with privacy both from the streets and from each other, while occupying the same land as a regular home. From the outside the building blends in with the rest of the neighbourhood, hiding in plain sight it is incorporated into the space smoothly. What I like the most about this project it’s how it manages to be modern, well thought out and beautiful without clashing with the local culture, as is so often the case when western architects do work on foreign land. Niamey 2000 is the pearl jewel in the work of Mariam Kamara, a member of United4Design and the founder of atelier masōmī, a Nigerien born architect that deserver so much more recognition, and whose work is to serve as guidance to anyone who plans to build locally, no matter where in the world.
Conclusion
Niamey 2000 is criminally underrated, as is Mariam Kamara, they are two amazing references for sustainable design that Niger offers to the world of architecture.
28/08/2020