The Senegalese context offers a rich tapestry of architectural materials, with various uses of clay, stone, timber, fibres, and cement that are sourced and manufactured locally. These materials are tied to process of extraction and transformation that relate histories and dynamics of territories, people, knowledge systems, ideologies, and structures of power. However, many of these building cultures have given way to a generic architectural production dominated by concrete, glass, steel, and aluminium—newly prevalent materials whose ecological impact is made manifest by the climate crisis and whose availability is constrained by the fragility and inequalities embedded in their international supply chains.

Today, a renewed interest in local materials and non-extractive practices highlights the profound impact of the building industry on territories of origin, human ecosystems, and local economies. For the practitioners gathered at this event, this interest is sustained by the investigation of territories and ecosystems from which materials emanate, and the human and political stories embedded in them. Whilst the past can teach us how to renew with alternative building practices, it is also important to consider the environmental implications of these practices to not perpetuate the harm caused by the sourcing of materials.

This discussion aims to place processes of extraction and transformation of materials at the heart of architectural decision-making. It is organized in the framework of the CCA c/o Dakar program curated by Nzinga B. Mboup and focusing on modernist Senegalese architecture, its protagonists, and its histories.