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How Architects Can Design 'Coherent and Peaceful Cities' [citylab.com]

 

Three years ago, demonstrators in Burkina Faso set fire to the National Assembly in Ouagadougou. The Burkinabé uprising led to the ouster of the country’s longtime president Blaise Compaoré followed by a short-lived military takeover. Today, Burkina Faso is rebuilding.

Diébédo Francis Kéré designed the next National Assembly building to reflect the reality of life in Ouagadougou. The design by the Berlin-based architect (and Burkina Faso native) is open and transparent, a pyramid whose façade doubles as a public space. The plans include terraces that celebrate (and demonstrate) the country’s agricultural achievements. Low-slung and marked by permeable walls and green event spaces, the National Assembly appears to rise up from the ground. Kéré’s design is grassroots architecture.

“If you create the little box, and you put [up] high walls and fences to protect again, it’s not the solution,” Kéré said.

[For more on this story by KRISTON CAPPS, go to https://www.citylab.com/design...erent-cities/543666/]

Photo: The design by Francis Kéré for the National Assembly in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. (Kéré Architecture)

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