CCA c/o Dakar

2023-2026

In summer 2023 we began collaborating with Nzinga Biegueng Mboup to produce a series of public programs and research projects in Dakar. Mboup is an architect and curator, co-founder of Worofila, a practice that specialises in bioclimatic architecture and construction using earth and biomaterial sourced locally.

CCA c/o Dakar enriches the CCA’s investigation into questions related to the African continent as well as the environment (see our research project Centring Africa: Postcolonial Perspectives on Architecture and the accompanying publication Fugitive Archives: A Sourcebook for Centring Africa in Histories of Architecture) as we will explore the current architectural, urban, and social context of Dakar.

This program is also a way to activate the production and dissemination of knowledge to prepare the ground for new ways of building and practicing that respond to the occupation and evolution of Senegalese and African society. For more information on the Senegalese context, please read Nzinga B. Mboup’s text accompanying this introduction to the CCA c/o Dakar program.

Research Project 1 — DPLG-S: Senegalese architects and their architectures

Many young Senegalese architects study architecture abroad and often don’t have the opportunity to learn about the architectural history of Senegal. The National School of Architecture, which operated in Dakar between 1971 and 1991, fostered a generation of architects who were trained locally, engaged with their architectural history, and questioned their context. Despite many of them still living and working today, there are very few resources available on their life or work.

This research project aims to paint a portrait of this first generations of Senegalese architects. There is an opportunity to present these figures whilst understanding the historical, socio-cultural, and political context that they operate in, and also question what they think the role of an architect can be.

The outputs of this project are a publication and a series of public events. These events took place in the form of conversations and exhibitions that allowed these architects to share their work and their journey with the younger generation, creating an opportunity for inter-generational conversation, reflection, and framing of the challenges that lie ahead.

Research Project 2 — A compendium of building materials and constructive techniques of Senegal

Senegalese architecture is produced with both indigenous and imported materials and techniques. The architectural history of Senegal can be understood through these various materials, their origins, their transformation, and the character they offer to buildings.

At a time when there is a renewed interest in bio-sourced materials, assembling an atlas of the Senegalese materials and constructive techniques is a critical tool for defining the future of practice in the region.

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