A NEW CULTURAL CENTRE FOR SEDHIOU
KAIRA LOORO INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION - SENEGAL
The new cultural centre of Seidhiou manifests itself as a humble architecture, with very simple connotations. The elements are stereo-metric and composed by following the logic that the space starts from the "void" to create the "full".
The defining strategy of the design process is to combine the interior functions required by the program with a unifying threshold. This threshold is covered by a thin wooden canopy which shades the communal area.
Volumes are simple and modular, the Agorà is generated from columns and beams made out of rough wood and covered by a layer of reeds.
The blocks are designed as enclosures made out of bricks finished with plaster. The facades are marked out by a vertical layer of reeds that protects the interior space from the direct sun. They also help to blend the outside to inside making the transition not obvious.
The distribution of the volumes is carefully arranged in order to perceive the functions as independent, yet part of a common system.
The bathrooms are designed through the use of a constructed wetland system to treat wastewater into an ecological area.
The collective space for performances, conferences and activities, plays an important role within this scheme being the tallest, its presence is the real urban landmark where the people identify themselves. It is also meant as the "landing place" at the end of the East-West corridor.
The spaces between the buildings feel open and welcoming to the public as you can walk freely through the site. This concept as well as the simple shapes creates a humble system, perfectly integrating within the existing context, and at the same time representing one the most important landmark of the town.
