The proposal for the Women's House of Baghere is designed to be a part of the community in a way that respects local culture by embracing the local cultural, social life, materiality, and the project brief, in a way that allows it to integrate with the village seamlessly. Our goal was to create a sustainable space where all people, regardless of gender, age and status, feel included. With roots in the Mali Empire and covering a vast part of West Africa, the local urban typology influenced the design of the Women's House. The idea is that individual houses are scattered or dispersed but still very connected to allow the voids between the houses to be the social spaces for various activities. Functional spaces are placed along the line to allow the design of the Spine-Line to become the connector of these individual functional spaces. The connector creates a void in the middle that becomes the outdoor gathering space and allows for an opening that connects all indoor and outdoor spaces. In villages, traditionally, meetings are held in the shade under trees, so the roof of the building is symbolic as it resembles a tree canopy and is a natural symbol of shelter.
Concept
A single wall connects all functions and is also designed to be a perimeter wall that provides a sense of security from within while simultaneously permitting the building to be open and welcoming to all people. The walls have perforations that promote natural ventilation, which is designed to mimic the effect of a wave that allows cool air in from the south and an outlet for warm air through the roof system's design. In the north, vertical shutters are used to prevent north winds in the harmattan season, which carry in excessive dust and hot winds. The walls also allow light to penetrate from the exterior and also from the interior courtyard.
Materiality and Sustainability
In order to make the project long lasting and to withstand the environmental conditions. The design explores the use of locally available materials which are available in abundance around the area to allow for easy and fast constructions and with less impact on the environment. The materials used are Earth bags which is natural and does not pollute the environment also other advantages such as lower cost and ability to reduce noise from entering the spaces which means different activities can take place at the same time. Also Bricks made from red sand are used to create perforations in the wall to allow light and enhance free flow of air in the building. The roof is made from the tin roof and a bamboo mat in order to reduce heating in the interior space which is supported by a wooden truss system which is easy to build and also create the feeling of the tree shelter over the entire building. The design creates a feeling of unity, beauty and sustainability with the selection of diverse locally sourced materials. By so doing creates a space with a unique architectural material identity which is new but uses local materials.
Construction
The construction of T H E H U (T) G / R I B B O N H U G is easy to fallow. The geometry is contained in a reticular grid of 21mts x 8 mts with a structure axis each 3 mts. The first step is to create a gentle compacted earth platform, the axis proposed on the design need to be trace on the base, therefore the free form of the design will allow to dig the foundations which are 80cm wide x 40 cm height. The trench will be filled with gravel and the by repetition the earth bags will be place along the curve and according to heights. By reaching the heights and slopes, the layer of laterite bricks will be place, these will be join with concret? Mud?. The structure that holds all the experience is a light metal sheet roof that is sustained by rosewood trusses made on site. These are place in the axis crosses and supported and embedded in the massive earth bag wall.
type: idea
team: Nii Ala Russell Adjei, Lorena Rodriguez, Mattia Grigolato, Natalia Estevez (random architects)
year: 2021