AR HOLLEMAN

19/8/02

12:20 pm

Page 44

Rufisque is a port just to the east

of Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Like most other cities in Africa, it
is undergoing traumatic
transformation with the impact of
modern technology, and a surge
of immigration from the
countryside. In Rufisque,
problems are made more extreme
because the sea is eating into the
place from the south, so
expansion has to take place in the
arid land north of the city, and a
grey concrete shanty town is
growing up there.
Shabby suburban streets are
suddenly relieved by an almost
strident red building, crisply
detailed and well tended. This is
the womens centre, a focus for
local groups, a reception
organization for rural immigrants
and a powerhouse for
empowering women in a
traditionally male orientated
culture.
Saija Hollmn, Jenni Reuter and
Helena Sandman submitted a
proposal for the centre to the
Otaniemi School of Architecture,
and the project was developed
with the help of the Finnish
Foreign Ministry, and Finnish
foundations as well as local
organizations the land was given
by the city.* Sociologist Anne
Rosenlew co-ordinated cultural
interaction. The site is next to
the usually dry wadi which runs
through the bidonville and hence
it was available for (careful)
development.
A house under a baobab tree,
the centre is modelled on
traditional compounds in this part
of West Africa, with a strong
perimeter surrounding buildings
turned inwards to a communal
court. The baobab is one of the
few trees left in an area that is
starved of wood. It shades one of
the two principal entrances to the
complex, a gateway that leads to
the communal hall.
The other public entrance is on
the north-west corner of the
compound. Here is an attempt to
make a small public square, on to

W OMEN S CENTRE , R UFISQUE , S ENEGAL

ARCHITECT
H OLLMN R EUTER S ANDMAN

WOMENS RIGHTS
Intimate knowledge of the culture and technology of Senegal has
enabled young Finnish architects to create a centre intended to
empower women in a society where they are normally suppressed.

44 | 7

1
The hall entrance under the
baobab tree, from outside ...
2
... and in. (Stairs go up over
guards room to viewing terrace.)

AR HOLLEMAN

19/8/02

12:20 pm

Page 46

W OMEN S CENTRE , R UFISQUE , S ENEGAL

ARCHITECT
H OLLMN R EUTER S ANDMAN

west-east section through hall and dying room

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h

court
public hall
dying
restaurant
water
kitchen
outdoor kitchen
shop

i
j
k
l
m
n
o

office
store
water point
craft room
dying yard
lavatories
guard

4
5

e
f

h
j
i

A
B
C
D
E

a
b

corrugated galvanized steel

RSJ structure
reed matting
brick grille
concrete block rendered

A
B
C
D
n

roof detail

52 | 7

plan (scale approx 1:275)

3
Calm court, with hall to left.
4
The craft space, open to allow
dying fumes to be dissipated.
5
An attempt at urbanity: the
suggestion of an urban square in
the north-west corner.
6
Drying yard outside dying room.

AR HOLLEMAN

19/8/02

12:20 pm

Page 48

WOMENS CENTRE,
RUFISQUE, SENEGAL
ARCHITECT
HOLLMN REUTER SANDMAN

which the centres shop and

restaurant open. The attempt is
fine whats needed is response
from the surrounding owners of
the grey buildings, who think
they cannot afford to give so
much as a metre of their land to
the public realm.
Once inside the compound, all
is clear and (at the moment)
Scandinavian neat. A paved court
is enclosed by the orderly rhythm
of the piers of the communal hall
to the right and the workshops on
the other side. The red buildings
are massively constructed to
exploit the thermal flywheel
effect. They have wide
overhanging roofs to provide
shade and are open to allow the
maximum amount of natural
ventilation. Up the road is the
biggest cement factory in West
Africa, so the structure is an in-

situ concrete frame filled in with

concrete blocks, cast and cured
on site. Roofs have recycled steel
rsj structures, carrying corrugated
galvanized metal roofing, with
reed matting ceilings so that a void
is created between metal and
reeds which cools the spaces by
convection a similar device was
used by Finnish architects
Heikkinen & Komonen when they
worked on the poultry farming
school at Koliagbe in Guinea (AR
November 2001.
At Rufisque, every effort has
been made to reduce use of wood
the regions most precious
natural resource. Not only are the
doors and windows made of steel,
but the reinforcing bars of the insitu structure are of the recycled
metal. Ventilation is often
achieved by using wheel hubs from
clapped-out vehicles as protective

grilles. Bottle bottoms sometimes

make windows, though these are
usually just openings shielded at
night by steel shutters. The craft
centre is largely open between its
piers to allow the poisonous gases
of the dying processes to be
dissipated.
The rhythm of its open
colonnade is echoed in that of the
hall across the court. Here is
dignified and noble public
architecture created with few
means, and a building which may
have a profound effect on the
society for which it has been
made. ANNE ANSTRUTHER
* The NGO project was carried out through
the Tekniska Freigning i Finland.

Architect
Hollmn Reuter Sandman, Helsinki
Photographs
Juha Ilonen

7
Colonnade on north side of court.
8
Dying vats in craft centre.

48 | 7