In the authentic societies, Culture is believed to be transferred from a generation to the next through many ways; one of the most important ways is word of mouth. In such an authentic society like traditional Senegal, all knowledge, habits and behaviors are derived from a celestial source. In return, people are dancing, crafting, telling poems seeking to react with the divine. Although, Senegal by law is a secular country, but still all their attitudes, behaviors, habits and customs (which all together could be called Culture) are driven by the connection to/with the Sky. The designer proposes a way to revive the traditional culture of telling (transferring the knowledge) and in parallel documenting it. The main approach is to grantee a main space “ORATURE“ [the Oral Traditions that constitute a part of of Senegal's Historical Memory.] for people to gather, dance, tell stories and consultant about their life, in addition to workshops to provide the new generations with their ancestors’ sacred knowledge. A library, is a main key in the program, which also works as a documentation hub, besides being a cinema for those very hot summer nights.
The designer adapts the Middle Senegalese man as a Modulor for the project.
Location
Sédhiou, Senegal
Team
Derzawi Architecture
