Ouagadougou_Burkina Faso CBF_Centre pour le Bien-être des Femmes

FARE is an Italian verb; its meaning includes to do and to make. This is what we did. The building that I am here to present is known as the CBF, the French acronym for the Centre pour le Bien-être des Femmes.

The building is located in the outskirts of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, Africa It is a community health center that provides medical assistance and counselling.

Female genital mutilations [FGM] incidence in Burkina Faso

[source: Demographic and Health Survey_DHS 2003]

76.6%

In Burkina Faso, it is estimated that more than 75 percent of the female population has been subjected to genital mutilation [FGM].

There have been many initiatives in recent years to fight FGM practices but more has to be done yet.

AIDOS is an Italian NGO leading the campaign against FGM: in partnership with some local associations, AIDOS developed a project for Burkina Faso focused on women’s reproductive health, women's sexual rights and the prevention of FGM.

As part of the program, a two building complex [Training Centre and Medical, Legal and Psychological Assistance] was to be built in Ouagadougou.

176th of 177 countries HDI_Human Development Indicators [http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_BFA.html]

While our knowledge of this African country was very limited, at a very early stage two major factors emerged as being crucial: poverty

and extreme climatic-environmental conditions, typical of sub-Saharan countries.

Concerning Ouagadougou, it is a fast growing city, similar to other African capital such as Lagos or Nairobi, with similar problems. At the beginning of the design process, since the functional program by AIDOS was still very vague, and the site, donated by local authorities, was not defined yet, we decided to go for a typological approach, studying a prototype that could be adapted to the real situation, once available. At the time, AIDOS was also thinking of a network of similar complex to be replicated elsewhere.

Local approach to architectural design is a mixture of stylistic references and un-sustainable technologies such as concrete structure and envelope and high air conditioning requirements.

Photo by Sheila McKinnon

To develop this prototype, we felt that the combination of climatic sensitivity and technical appropriateness would have been the only possible solution: a combination traditionally used in the area that we could translate into contemporary form.

The first step is a raised platform: a solution to limit the effects of dust, mud and humidity.

The second element of the 'system' is a canopy, that shades the platform and protects from rain.

Then we imagined series of enclosed volumes on top of the platform to house the functional activities, independent from the canopy above.

Finally, vegetation was introduced, to represent integration of un-built components.

The prototype was ready, as abstract, simple and ideological as possible. At this point all that we needed was a site to test the proposal.

A site that finally came once the exact location of the 40 x 40 m plot was defined: a flat piece of land in a semi-rural periphery of Ouagadougou, an area of informal/illegal settlement.

General layout was to be inspired by correct orientation, ideal use of land and, above all, by the intention to create a place for human interaction, a public piazza and a symbolic place for the community.

1.  Main entrance 2.  Court 3.  Assembly bungalow 4.  Psychologist 5.  Lawyer 6.  Outpatient’s department 7.  Nursery 8.  Head office 9.  Great Hall 10.  Kitchen 11.  Electricity generator 12.  Water tower 13.  Incinerator 14.  Secondary entrance 15.  Parking 16.  Ventilation Improved Pits toilets

The site plan shows the main features of the project: _the two main buildings are organized in terms of internal arrangement and mutual position in order to reduce effect of sun and take advantage of breeze

_in addition, the two main buildings are connected by a smaller platform and rotated to form an open space where visitors can congregate _there is space for future expansion of one of the two main buildings _the plot edge is defined by a wall that supports a series of ancillary functions [toilet block, storage, custodian's booth]

In aesthetic terms, our aim was clear: the complex had to be recognizable, to have its own distinctive character and identity. We had no vernacular or other aspirations, quite the opposite.

A local builder has been appointed after a tender involving three contractors and construction began in February 2006.

Excavation was rendered difficult by the hard sub-Saharan soil.

The concrete slabs of the two platforms employ conventional solutions, using hollow blocks produced on site.

The production and erection of the steel 'trees' supporting the canopy was a crucial phase of construction, given the constraints of local market: all of the steel work uses one steel profile and one diameter of steel pipe.

The walls are constructed using compressed dry-laid clay bricks known as BTC [briques en terre comprimée]; the bricks were made on site using a rough mixture of earth, cement and water.

Despite the lack of equipment and experience, the project boasts a discrete level of detailing and quality of construction.

Labour conditions are absolutely unacceptable by any international standard but we simply couldn't do anything about it.

The interior spaces were covered using a combination of corrugated steel sheeting, and translucent plastic panels to allow natural light into the rooms.

The colors of the walls and their slogans are an important component of the strategy to heighten the visibility of the CBF.

As a consequence the building is visible from a great distance, becoming a point of reference and landmark in the surrounding landscape.

The canopy finish is a standard PVC truck tarpaulin.

The complex is entirely self-sufficient as far as water and energy are concerned; materials are largely recyclable. The only mechanical air-conditioning systems are located in the two medical rooms, where they are used to filter the air, rather than cool it. Sustainability is an increasingly controversial concept that we would rather avoid: we simply could not afford to do otherwise.

Despite all of the ideological background we introduced into the project, our intention was not to land bizarre object on the site, but one that stood out as clearly different but understandable. We wanted the complex to embody the possibility of an alternative: if social program by AIDOS was aimed at fighting traditional practice, we wanted to do the same in the field of built environment and use of space and resources. We did it by introducing some typological local elements in the program [the earth-made boxes, the village-like layout, the threes-like roof, the outdoor spaces for informal meetings], in order to make the building recognized and accepted by the local community.

Photo by Cariddi Nardulli

Photo by Sheila McKinnon

November 2007: the building is officially delivered to the community.

The building is absorbed into local costumes, becoming an element of pride.

At the level of urban infrastructure the project has given rise, or at least contributed, to the development of a network of points of interest.

The complex was 'occupied' and animated inside, outside, night and day.

Photo by Sheila McKinnon

Photo by Sheila McKinnon

Photo by Sheila McKinnon

Photo by Cariddi Nardulli

At the level of urban infrastructure the project has given rise, or at least contributed, to the development of a network of points of interest.

With this project we have experienced firsthand how much architects have to do into the real world before going beyond architecture. The simple fact that this project has materialized is a demonstration that the time, opportunity, possibility and need for an architecture of reality is upon us.