ARHOLLEMAN.pdf

8/21/2019 ARHOLLEMAN.pdf

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Rufisque is aport just to the east

of Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Like most other cities in Africa, it

is undergoingtraumatic

transformation with the impact of

modern technology, and asurge

of immigration fromthe

countryside. In Rufisque,

problems are made more extreme

because the seais eatinginto the

place fromthe south, so

expansion has to take place in the

arid land north of the city, and a

grey concrete shanty town is

growingup there.

Shabby suburban streets are

suddenly relieved by an almost

strident red building, crisply

detailed and well tended. This is

the women’s centre, a focus for

local groups, areception

organization for rural immigrants

and apowerhouse for

empoweringwomen in atraditionally male orientated

culture.

SaijaHollmén, Jenni Reuter and

HelenaSandman submitted a

proposal for the centre to the

Otaniemi School of Architecture,

and the project was developed

with the help of the Finnish

Foreign Ministry, and Finnish

foundations as well as local

organizations – the land was given

by the city.* Sociologist Anne

Rosenlew co-ordinated cultural

interaction. The site is next to

the usually dry wadi which runs

through the bidonville and hence

it was available for (careful)

development.

‘A house under abaobab tree’,

the centre is modelled on

traditional compounds in this part

of West Africa, with astrong

perimeter surroundingbuildings

turned inwards to acommunal

court. The baobab is one of the

few trees left in an areathat is

starved of wood. I t shades one of

the two principal entrances to thecomplex, agateway that leads to

the communal hall.

The other public entrance is on

the north-west corner of the

compound. Here is an attempt to

make asmall public square, on to

WOMEN’SCENTRE, RUFISQUE, SENEGALA RCH ITECT

HOLLMÉN REUTERSANDMAN

WOMEN’S RIGHTSIntimate knowledge of the culture and technology of Senegal has

enabled young Finnish architects to create a centre intended toempower women in a society where they are normally suppressed.

1The hall entrance under thebaobab tree, from outside ...2... and in. (Stairs go up overguard’sroom to viewingterrace.)1


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WOMEN’SCENTRE, RUFISQUE, SENEGALA RCH ITECT

HOLLMÉN REUTERSANDMAN

plan (scale approx 1:275)

west-east section through hall and dyingroom

roof detail

a court

b public hall

c dying

d restaurant

e water

f kitchen

g outdoor kitchen

h sh op

i office

j store

k water point

l craft room

m dying yard

n lavatories

o guard

A corrugated galvanized steel

B RSJ structure

C reed matting

D brick grille

E concrete block rendered

3Calm court, with hall to left.4The craft space, open to allowdyingfumes to be dissipated.5An attempt at urbanity: thesuggestion of an urban square inthe north-west corner.6Dryingyard outside dyingroom.

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which the centre’s shop and

restaurant open. The attempt is

fine – what’s needed is response

from the surrounding owners of

the grey buildings, who think

they cannot afford to give somuch as a metre of their land to

the public realm.

Once inside the compound, all

is clear and (at the moment)

Scandinavian neat. A paved court

is enclosed by the orderly rhythm

of the piers of the communal hall

to the right and the workshops on

the other side. The red buildings

are massively constructed to

exploit the thermal flywheel

effect. They have wide

overhanging roofs to provide

shade and are open to allow themaximum amount of natural

ventilation. Up the road is the

biggest cement factory in West

Africa, so the structure is an in-

situ concrete frame filled in with

concrete blocks, cast and cured

on site. Roofs have recycled steel

rsj structures, carrying corrugated

galvanized metal roofing, with

reed matting ceilings so that a voidis created between metal and

reeds which cools the spaces by

convection – a similar device was

used by Finnish architects

Heikkinen & Komonen when they

worked on the poultry farming

school at Koliagbe in Guinea (AR

November 2001.

At Rufisque, every effort has

been made to reduce use of wood

– the region’s most precious

natural resource. Not only are the

doors and windows made of steel,

but the reinforcing bars of the in-situ structure are of the recycled

metal. Ventilation is often

achieved by using wheel hubs from

clapped-out vehicles as protective

grilles. Bottle bottoms sometimes

make windows, though these are

usually just openings shielded at

night by steel shutters. The craft

centre is largely open between its

piers to allow the poisonous gasesof the dying processes to be

dissipated.

The rhythm of its open

colonnade is echoed in that of the

hall across the court. Here is

dignified and noble public

architecture created with few

means, and a building which may

have a profound effect on the

society for which it has been

made.ANNE ANSTRUTHER

* The N G O project w as carried out through

the Tekniska Föreigning i Finland.

ArchitectHollmén Reuter Sandman, Helsinki

Photographs Juha Ilonen

WOMEN’SCENTRE,RUFISQUE, SENEGALA RC H ITECT

HOLLMÉN REUTER SANDMAN

7Colonnade on north side of court.8Dying vats in craft centre.

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