PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Women’s Centre, Rufisque, Senegal
Hollmén-Reuter-Sandman Architects
The Women’s Centre in Rufisque, Senegal, got started as a graduation piece on the Interplay of Cultures course in the Department of Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) in 1996 and was finally completed in October 2001. The idea and the space utilisation plan for the centre originated from cooperation with Senegalese women’s groups. The purpose of the project was to improve women’s living conditions and enhance their social status, education, health and freedom of action, and to promote environmentally aware and ecologically sustainable building design.
The building was erected in the form of a non-governmental organisation project through the Engineering Society in Finland. Finance came from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Senegalese-Finnish Association ARC with sociologist Anne Rosenlew as the driving force. The land was contributed by the Rufisque city authority and local parties supported the project with donations of materials. The Finnish Cultural Foundation and many other Finnish foundations also supported the project with grants.
Senegalese women, like their sisters in other parts of Africa, often get together to form associations with memberships range from a few dozen to hundreds. The organisation of active and strong women tries to make everyday life easier for its members among the prevailing poverty and to ensure them a degree of social security. They educate themselves with independent literacy courses, augment their earnings by selling home cooking and handicrafts, and help women who move to cities from the country to adjust. The work is organised internally, which means a step forwards from the traditional social networks formed by friends and family. The new centre tries to provide facilities for these organized functions.
The site allocated to the project is north of Rufisque, in the drainage area for the rainy season – which is why the plot was vacant. The vicinity was densely built-up with low buildings. We roamed the surrounding streets and alleyways on foot during the design phase to get an idea of the scale of the district; it was important for the Women’s Centre to be appropriate for the neighbourhood structure. In West African style, the building is grouped around a central courtyard; the dividing line between private and public is clear albeit flexible. The simplicity of the street fronts suits the building to its environs. A corner opening onto a crossroads forms a small public square, which retailing facilities face onto. The red colouration gives the building a unique identity in the prevailing grey of the neighbourhood.
The choice of materials favours local and recycled matter: for example, wood was used only where it could not be replaced with anything else. The biggest cement plant in West Africa is outside Rufisque, making cement a local material. The building was therefore made of concrete rather than, for example, clay brick, for which the local clay is not suitable. The clayey soil made it necessary to cast a pretty strong foundation, which is regrettably not the usual practice in the region. We also commissioned the appropriate structural designs and strength calculations for the Women’s Centre, which we hoped would have an educational effect on local construction methods and our builders.
The skeleton of the building was cast on site as a concrete column-and-beam structure, with the walls made of in-situ concrete blocks. The roofing consists of corrugated iron supported on steel beams and the ceiling of thick woven straw matting. The space between the roof and ceiling is ventilated, keeping the air inside comfortably cool. The details include recycled wheel rims as ventilation covers and old bottle bottoms for light apertures. The steel bars used in the reinforced concrete are of recycled metal.
Today, three and a half years after the completion we can see that the building has taken its place in the district. It is well known as the only public building in the area. It is in full use. In the mornings a kindergarten is occupying the big space and in the afternoons a handicraft school for girls fills up parts of the centre. Parallel with the schools the originally planned activities are taking place.
Saija Hollmén, Jenni Reuter, Helena Sandman
