The second public event of the CCA c/o Dakar program, held on 17 August 2024, brought together four Senegalese architects whose work, both as students and in practice, stimulated a discussion about the definition and recognition of Senegal’s built heritage. While Xavier Ricou studied in Paris, graduating with a thesis project on Gorée Island, the other three architects graduated from the École d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Dakar (E.A.U.): Andrée Diop-Depret, was the first woman to graduate from the E.A.U. and her office GA2D has refurbished or renovated many historic monuments in Senegal; Jean-Augustin Carvalho, chose to work on the refurbishment of the Sandaga Market for his graduation project; and Fodé Diop, chose instead to work on the restructuring of the Island of Saint-Louis. Through sharing these diverse experiences, the public audience learned about strategies that can be adopted to identify and recognize the value of our heritage, learning from past successes and mistakes while shedding light on the challenges we are facing in the context of widespread destruction of the built heritage.

The importance of preserving the history and memory of a community or culture was a recurring topic during the discussion, reflecting a consensus regarding the need to acknowledge the history inscribed in the buildings that preceded our era, with a diversity of styles that manifests the endogenous cultures and the multiple exogenous influences that we have experienced.

The four architects who presented at the event developed their appreciation of heritage out of their family histories—as for Xavier Ricou with Gorée Island—or their life experiences—Fodé Diop went to secondary school in Saint-Louis. The courses at the E.A.U. also raised awareness of the built heritage among generations of students under the guidance of Professor Patrick Dujarric, travelling around Senegal and mapping the traditional architecture of various regions.

When the law was enacted, only Gorée Island and Cap Manuel were subject to legal protection. Today, the list of historic monuments in Senegal has grown to include hundreds of sites throughout the country.¹

In order to understand the value of built heritage and protect it, we first need to list it, study it, and identify its features. This is what Xavier Ricou and Fodé Diop did for the islands of Gorée and Saint-Louis, respectively, with their graduation projects. They described and analyzed their geographical contexts, the urban morphology, the building types, and above all the living configurations and the technical elements (materials, types of roofing, balconies) that define the architecture of these islands. The poor state of conservation of the buildings was also a central concern in their mappings, proposing technical solutions to improve it such as the treatment of capillary damp.

Although these graduation projects were theoretical and not intended for practical application, they bore fruit in Ricou and Diop’s careers, which were largely focused on protecting the islands. Diop chose the subject of his thesis thinking about its “usefulness” or applicability, and in 2000, he was able to revisit it and update it to serve as a basis for the classification of the Island of Saint-Louis as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Xavier Ricou then took on the task of setting up the conservation plan.

Jean-Augustin Carvalho turned to more recent forms of heritage for his graduation project, namely the Sandaga market. The building, with its Sudanese-Sahelian architecture¹ dating from the 1930s, was still one of Dakar’s leading commercial hubs during his studies in the 1980s, but had already been swallowed up by a proliferation of stalls spreading into the surrounding streets. Carvalho’s project focused not on the building itself, but on its function as a market in Dakar and the expansion of its functions across the urban block. The analysis of the different programs, the foodstuffs and objects sold, the layout of the stalls, and the spatio-temporal flows informed the restructuring proposal for the alleys emanating from Sandaga to form a new shopping centre. This research project was supported by the Dakar City Council, to whom Carvalho offered the project to serve as a basis for the discussions about the future of a market that was seen as embodying the soul of Dakar.

In 2013, the market was tragically damaged in a fire and subsequently demolished in 2021. This fuelled a new debate on the value and preservation of heritage, and led to legal battles, technical studies, and designs. An unrealized project by Andrée Diop-Depret and her firm GA2D aimed to restore the building’s original envelope and functions by reinforcing the structural elements damaged by the fire. One of the functions that Diop-Depret wanted to restore, long forgotten by young people in Dakar, was the market terrace, which had hosted balls and rehearsals by dancers from the Daniel Soprano theatre, and could have been used for other cultural events in the city.

The contributions of the four architects at the discussion highlighted a cross-disciplinary understanding of the historical, socio-cultural, material, and urban considerations of the built heritage, based on research, cataloguing, and mapping that not only seek the preservation of the buildings but also bringing them to life in the contemporary context.

In addition to the unfinished Sandaga market project, Andrée Diop-Depret presented a number of restoration, refurbishment, and renovation projects for listed buildings designed by GA2D over the years.¹ The implementation strategy for these projects is based on knowledge of history, materials, and construction processes, echoing the research and mapping work of Xavier Ricou.

The restoration projects by Diop-Depret / GA2D and Ricou for the Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) and the Maison Victoria Albis in Gorée began with surveys that made an inventory of the modifications made to the buildings over time. The analysis also made it possible to study the composition of the walls made of basalt rubble assembled with lime and shell mortar, to which cement-block walls were added in the twentieth century. The restoration preserved the visual aspect of the buildings on several fronts: On the façades, arrow slits and blocked windows were identified and brought back to their original state. To keep with the materiality of the buildings and the site, GA2D sourced stones from Popenguine to restore the steps of the central staircase.

For the renovation and extension project of the Dakar railway station, GA2D’s approach was to retain the terracotta brick façade and the original metal structure, while reorganizing the interior spaces to meet the needs of the new regional express train (TER). The metal structure was reinforced by a parallel reinforced concrete structure on the inside, and the attic space was used as a technical area for the new mechanical ventilation system. The floors were redone using the traditional granito or terrazzo technique, using marble from the Kédougou region in eastern Senegal. The ceramics on the main facade were redone in collaboration with Dakar ceramist Mauro Petroni, to match the originals. The metal and brick extension extends the original station’s palette of materials, making this renovation an example of how an old infrastructure can be updated to serve the country’s current and future needs. These projects by GA2D demonstrate how the architect’s knowledge of history, materials, and techniques is crucial to the enhancement of heritage, so as to preserve infrastructure and memory while bringing old buildings into the present with contemporary functions.

Traditional built heritage can also inspire architects in their contemporary designs, as in the case of the Saint-Maur market in Ziguinchor. This project enabled architect Jean-Augustin Carvalho to pursue his interest in the central function of markets by drawing inspiration from traditional Diola architecture, in particular the impluvium huts, organized around a central atrium that brings light into all the spaces.

Traditional architecture offers a wealth of lessons on passive strategies for thermal comfort, as well as on the use of local resources to construct buildings rooted in their context. The Casamance impluvium hut, for example, embodies the principles of natural lighting, rainwater collection with naturally ventilated thatched roofs, and the constructive know-how of earthen walls. The colonial period saw the introduction of construction techniques using basalt or limestone (Rufisque stone) and, later on, the use of terracotta buildings, which are characteristic of Saint-Louis. Even after independence, the modernist architects of the 1970s, such as BEHC (Bureau d’Études Henri Chomette) and Birahim Niang with ADAUA (Association for the Development of Traditional African Urbanism and Architecture) in the 1980s, also adopted a natural architectural approach, using locally-produced terracotta.

The conservation of built heritage relies on specific know-how: knowledge of materials and construction techniques other than reinforced concrete, concrete blocks, glass, or aluminium, materials that dominate the current construction industry in Senegal. The loss of knowledge is impoverishing architectural culture and the built environment, which is increasingly dependent on imported materials (tiles, steel, and aluminium), and existing buildings are becoming more and more difficult to renovate or restore.

The importance of transmitting knowledge about built heritage and the places where this knowledge is passed on is a social endeavour that will enable us to take a critical look at our history while equipping us with the tools to enhance our different cultures and develop our economy. This foundational knowledge is necessary if we are to make informed choices about the transformation or preservation of our heritage, and if we are to serve the interests of our societies today. Forgetting is certainly a strategy that allows us to demolish and rebuild, at the cost of losing heritage wealth, natural resources, and ancestral know-how in favour of political and industrial interests seeking to gain a monopoly on markets.

The CCA c/o Dakar program was launched in the form of a round table discussion that looked at the legacy that the École d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Dakar (E.A.U.), in operation from 1973 to 1991, had on the concept of modern Senegalese architecture. Several key themes emerged over the course of these discussions, namely the political will to provide a national education in architecture that, at its core, defines an African architecture that is not only rooted in its context, but that can also respond the socio-economic challenges and realities of Senegal. The unearthing of a thesis by one of Senegal’s first architects Pierre Goudiaby (Atepa)—who graduated with a diploma in architecture in Massachusetts in1973—excerpts of which are published in Fugitive Archives: A Sourcebook for Centring Africa in Histories of Architecture, inspired the re-examination of other thesis projects by the first generation of Senegalese-trained architects as a way to understand how their process fits into the social, cultural, political, and historical context of their architectural projects, and to give these archives a new life.

The event was marked by the presence of the E.A.U.’s first graduates, Abib Djenne and Nicolas Cissé (1979), Birahim Niang (1980), and the school’s final cohort represented by Seynabou Diouf and Thiao Kandji (1990), their professors Jacques Trouvé (in charge of the “Volumes and Visual Arts” course), Jean-Charles Tall (acoustics), and other peers such as Annie Jouga (1979), and Mbacké Niang (1980) who, although they studied in France, helped develop ideas and campaigned for a modern Senegalese architecture. Presentations by various speakers traced the foundation and legacy of the school, from which Senegal’s current architectural pedagogy can be reconsidered.

The E.A.U. grew out of the political will of Senegal’s first post-independence president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, a man of letters who was committed to promoting art and culture. After the École des Arts opened in 1960 to provide training in the fine arts, it was dissolved in 1972 to become the Institut National des Arts, which included a conservatory, a school of fine arts, and the École d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme. The latter had two divisions: one for training architectural assistants, the other for training architects. Senghor sought to promote the emergence of new forms of art, including architecture, that would draw from the country’s ancestral heritage while harmonizing with contemporary artistic and Westernized methodologies, and that would highlight Senegalese cultural identity and Black African heritage.¹

Senghor’s vision is very present in the accounts of the first generation of architects and was an ongoing mission throughout their academic years and first realized projects. This vision also formed the pedagogical foundation of their curriculum.

The curriculum was divided into three levels; the first two-year level formed part of the bachelor’s degree and offered introductory courses providing basic scientific and technological elements, leading to a certificate in architectural studies. The second two-year level focused on professional qualifications and led to a diploma in architecture (housing, amenities, tourism, industrial construction, rural) or in urban studies (urban planning, rural, regional, physical landscape planning). Six years after the foundation of the E.A.U. and its curriculum,¹ Senghor’s gamble paid off, and the first generation of students completed their third level in 1979, with Abib Djenne graduating at the top of his class with his thesis project “Restructuring the Village of Hann-Pecheurs.”

Abib Djenne’s thesis proposed ways to improve housing in the village of Hann-Pecheurs, a nucleus of the Léboue community, the Indigenous people of the Dakar peninsula. As a native of this community himself, although he grew up in Gueule Tapée/Medina, Djenne opted for an ethnographic and sociological approach that would provide insight into the population’s lifestyle and the urban morphology of their neighbourhood, before proposing an architectural response.

Many of the courses offered by the E.A.U. fed into this approach. In second year, the sociology course set out to gather ethno- and psycho-sociological data by analysing the rural and urban inhabitants’ way of life. In third year, the module “Housing, family, and society” studied traditional housing and the socio-spatial organisation of neighbourhoods to understand how they operate and to assess the needs of their inhabitants.

One E.A.U. professor who promoted an ethnographic approach was Patrick Durarric, who organized student field trips throughout Senegal in order to chart the different types of rural housing. Their findings were consolidated in the publication Maisons sénégalaises.¹

Having been part of these field trips and inheriting the pedagogy of the E.A.U., Abib Djenne also studied the village of Hann-Pêcheur through an ethnographic lens by mapping the distribution of its population and the occupations of its inhabitants. His meticulous study and charting of the area, the distribution of spaces and materials used, and his analysis of public amenities led to an urban redevelopment proposal to create illuminated roads for increased safety, and improved housing that not only provided shelter, but also space for individuals to pursue their artisanal activities. Both of Djenne’s proposed housing typologies were destined for fishing families, with a work area for the women to dry and sell fish caught by members of their families. The distribution of domestic spaces followed the logic of traditional plots, which provides private space for everyone, plus a shared communal yard where most of the domestic activities take place.

Other E.A.U. students adopted a similar approach, often working in rural areas. This was the case with Daouda Ndiaye and Moustapha Fall, whose thesis project proposed a restructuring of the village of Soninké de Mouderi by studying the specificities of rural housing. Their thesis even went a bit further by proposing building systems inspired by traditional housing, with arches and domes made with cast dirt bricks, a traditional technique from the Senegal River valley.

This attention to building systems was shared by Seynabou Diouf in her thesis project, which proposed a series of modular prototypes with a variety of building systems in improved natural materials that enabled any community to build their own early childhood education space.

When Seynabou Diouf zeroed in on the issue of early childhood education spaces, she began by studying a series of kindergartens in Dakar to understand how they operated and quickly discovered certain shortcomings. With the right to education for every Senegalese child as her guiding principle, she first developed a system of spatial modules, followed by constructive modules that would accommodate the phased construction of kindergarten classes in both urban and rural communities. The result was a series of classroom prototypes with single-slope roofs that could be oriented to provide good light and ventilation inside the classroom while also ventilating the roof. All of this was designed to limit the amount of direct sunlight entering the building to avoid overheating, which makes learning difficult, especially in parts of Senegal where it is very hot. A metallic structure ensured quick assembly, while the roof and infill wall construction varied depending on the availability of materials in a given area. In the end, her project demonstrated that it was just as feasible to build a prototype with cinderblock walls and a sheet metal roof as it was to build one with clay bricks and a straw roof.

The passive cooling strategies illustrated in this project and the use of bio-sourced materials were often at the core of the E.A.U. student’s projects, which include drawings that demonstrate their understanding of wind currents and sunlight, and strategies for achieving physical comfort without resorting to air conditioning.

The research project for the Panthéon National, designed by Thiao Kandji, illustrates Senghor’s policy of cultural consideration and the establishment of institutions and buildings that promote Senegalese culture. The first consideration is based on choosing national heroes, in this case the scientist Cheikh Anta Diop, the Casamance member of the resistance Aline Sitoe Diatta, the king and member of the resistance Lat Dior, and the philosopher Cayorien Kocc Brama Fall, who transcends time and exemplifies the different virtues of Senegalese culture. But the pantheon’s program doesn’t simply glorify historical figures or create a “national tomb,” it differentiates itself from Parisian or Roman pantheon models by also offering cultural programming and an event space.

Its chosen site is the Place de la Nation, marked by an obelisk and a surrounding circular building. A geological study of the site was conducted as part of the research. The resulting building is as monumental as its programming, with a very distinct volumetric composition and a very solid exterior façade with very few windows, offering protection from the wind and sun.

Other E.A.U. student projects proposed to build national institutions by examining Western architecture and drawing from the diversity of local cultures. Such is the case for the Study and Design of a National Language Institute in Dakar, a 1990 project by Youssoupha Leye, who was in the same class as Thiao Kandji. This project is the material expression of Senghor’s policy of codifying national languages in education. From the 1989 class, Babacar Clédor Wade proposed a project for a National Museum in Dakar. In both instances, students demonstrate a desire for an identity-based building that is locally rooted and promotes immaterial heritage (memory, languages, etc.) while responding to the requirements of contemporary society and Dakar’s urban context.

While many of these thesis projects remain theoretical, by revisiting them, the three architects expressed a great sense of pride at the rigor of their work, their investment in the issues at hand, and the sense of optimism that their project would bring real solutions to the challenges facing Senegalese society. The projects’ cultural anchoring was expressed in their programmatic and urban response, using materials without copying or imitating traditional architecture, which they had thoroughly studied. The architect Birahim Niang, who graduated at the top of his class in 1980, then joined ADAUA (Association for the Development of Traditional African Urbanism and Architecture) and went on to realize a project that won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, had this to say about his time at E.A.U.:

After nearly 20 years of existence and the emergence of a new generation of architects trained in Senegal, thanks to the political will for a national architecture, the E.A.U. closed its doors in 1991, by ministerial decree, due to government budget shortfalls. The E.A.U. also welcomed many non-local students from the subregion, and aside from the EAMAU in Lome (Togo), it was the leading school in French-speaking Black Africa. The repercussions of this closure left the country with no architecture-based educational institutions for more than 15 years, forcing Senegalese architects to train abroad in France, the US, Morocco, Turkey, Togo, or elsewhere.

Today, the E.A.U.’s academic program seems utopian, given the richness of its curriculum and how it invested in its students and future architects in the building of their country. Now, more than ever, it’s important to draw from this memory, to recenter a political vision in accordance with current challenges to establish academic and cultural institutions that enable us to train Senegalese architects now and into the future.