Tropical Architecture in Rwanda

PRO JECT S

TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE IN RWANDA

MUH AZI YOU TH D ORM ITOR Y

Inte rnat iona l Ne two rk o f Re sear ch a nd T each ing

Manlio Michieletto

TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE IN RWANDA MUHAZI YOUTH DORMITORY PROJECTS

Manlio Michieletto

International Network of Research and Teaching

International Network of Research and Teaching

The International Network of Research and Teaching - INReTe wants to be a platform for critical dialogue, for ordering and comparing didactic and research experiences. It aims to offer an open space for reasoning where stimulate the interconnections and the comparison between different knowledge and skills on the project.

Scientific Committee PierAntonio Val (series director) Università Iuav di Venezia Guya Bertelli Politecnico di Milano Hervé Dubois École Nationale Paris Val De Seine

Tropical Architecture in Rwanda Muhazi Youth Dormitory Projects by Manlio Michieletto ISBN 978-88-32050-57-8

A thanks goes to the second year students that patiently supported the publication project.

Published by Anteferma Edizioni Srl via Asolo 12, Conegliano, TV edizioni@anteferma.it First edition: January 2021

Copyright

Donatella Fioretti Akademie der Künste Düsseldorf Giovanni Vragnaz Università di Udine

Published Issues 1. Regeneration of the recent past (2016) 2. Reversed Archeology (2020) 3. Tropical Architecture in Rwanda (2021)

The publication collects and displays the outputs of the module titled “Architectural Design 2” conducted in the Academic Year 20182019 in the Department of Architecture of the School of Architecture and Built Environment located in the College of Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda, Kigali.

This work is distributed under Creative Commons License Attribution - Non-commercial - No derivate works 4.0 International

This project involved the non-profit – Journeyman International (JI) therefore, a thanks goes to Althoff Carly, in the convition that this project is the starting point of many others in the future.

I have to thank Emilio Antoniol for the effort and patience supporting me composing the book and to my teaching collaborators, Ntigulirwa Marie Amelie and Ndacyayishima Justin.

A special thought goes to Nyandwi Alphonse (Septus), and to the Arch. Katanga Jean Claude, ad maiora.

Finally a thought of gratitude goes to all studunts involved in this academic experience: Bugirimfura John, Ciragiza Yempenzi Marcellin, Cyiza Fiston, Dushime Kagina Azza, Giraneza Maniraho Danny, Habimana Irene, Hirwa Peace Aime, Inezaye Irene Pacifique, Izerane Maurice, Kagagire Anastase, Kampire Christine, Kwizera Samuel, Mbonyurugero Elie, Muhanguzi Maddhavan Deo, Mumararungu Diane, Niyigena Steven, Niyonkuru Yves, Nyandwi Alphonse, Shema Aime Boris, Shyaka Patrick, Uwimpuhwe Salem.

Table of contents

ESSAYS

6 Introduction

Manlio Michieletto

14 Tropical Architecture in Rwanda Manlio Michieletto

20 Journeyman International Carly Althoff

CASE STUDIES

PROJECTS

26 Case studies. Architectural Design 2 Manlio Michieletto

34 Muhazi Youth Dormitory Manlio Michieletto

80 Teaching activity

ESSAYS

Introduction

Manlio Michieletto

The School of Architecture and Built Environment (SABE) is a young faculty founded in 2009 as part of the College of Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda. Inaugurated in 2018, the new SABE building represents an interesting case study of tropical architecture becoming at the same time both a landmark in the construction of sustainable public buildings in the Country and an opened and available manual for the people studying in (Fig. 1). The bachelor in Architecture is a five years’ program with Design Studios scheduled starting from the second year of study: Architectural Design 1 and Architectural Design 2 respectively in trimester one and two. Architectural Design 2 - titled Architecture’s Contribution to Society, aims to prepare students to design within a specific social context and analyse the environmental and social conditions of the site, generating the most appropriate response to the assigned subject: A tropical youth dormitory at Lake Muhazi. The registered students for the module have been challenged on a project for a non-profit – Journeyman International (JI), that empowers youth in education and leadership-building. JI is an American NGO engaged in various countries around the world since 2000 and which offers an engineering and architectural service to those who do not have sufficient resources. The collaboration between the Department of Architecture of the University of Rwanda and JI has allowed the students to engage themselves with a real client – the NGO Youth for Christ. Youth for Christ requested the project of a dormitory that has to comply to specific needs and requirements. Designed for 120 students the tropical dormitory is part of a more complex project of retreat camp for youth and volunteers that Youth for Christ intends to carry out on the shores of Lake Muhazi, 30 km north of Kigali the Rwandan Capital city (Fig. 2).

As a design studio, students had first to explore the subject matter identifying individually the case studies more appropriate in order to develop a coherent project in the belief that “in all, an antecedent is needed; Nothing, in any genre, comes from nothing, and this must apply to all of the inven-

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1. New School of Architecture and Built Environment (SABE)(2018). Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

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2. Sketch of the general project for the Muhazi Youth Dormitory. The common areas are placed n the central part of the building while the two wings are reserved for boys (left) and girls (right).

3. Rwanda and the Capital City Kigali.

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tions of man” (Quatremère de Quincy, 1832). In this regard the examples found and analysed by the students were the following: Partners in Health Dormitory by Sharon Davis Design (Rwanda 2015); Butaro Doctors’ Housing by MASS Design Group (Rwanda 2012); AU Dormitory by TERRAIN architects (Uganda 2015); School Dormitory for 100 Students by ASA Studio (Rwanda 2016); Falatow Jigiyaso Orphanage by F8 architecture + Gérard Violante (Mali 2012). These case studies are later presented in a book’s chapter providing an image an image accompanied by a short text. Once completed the redrawn process of the precedents each student started the design of the dorm supported also by various teaching and learning tools. Lectures were given to introduce students to a precise architectural method as a mean of inspiring their design keeping in mind the peculiar condition of the tropics and the adoption of a logical spirit typical of construction in the local context (Dequeker & Kanene, 1992). Therefore, a climate responsive design approach guided the students’ projects taking into account different aspects among others the tropical architectural features, the regional building materials and the specific characteristics of the project site. Orientation, crossventilation and sun protection drove the design strategy according to the site construction topography and morphology.

Moreover, the client emphasized the need of exploiting the natural context focusing on the lake’s view as indispensable component of the overall conception. In the aim of containing the costs was suggested the use of locally quarried stones for the foundations, handmade bricks for the masonry, clay tiles for the roof and eucalyptus for the timber elements such as brise-soleil, both verticals and horizontals. In addition, the students had been requested to comply with the general guidelines established by UN-Habitat and grouped in the document called “Sustainable building design for tropical climate”. The building experience accumulated on the ground by

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4. Dormitory functional diagram and study model.

5. The professor. Michieletto inspecting the project area with the students.

6. On the following pages. View of the site’s project towards the lake Muhazi. Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

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JI contributed to draw students’ attention towards the community engagement issue as well as the engagement on a constant confrontation with the client.

For the final exam hand drawings had been showcased in the A3 format with the support of two physical model, one on scale 1:500 fitting on the site model and one on scale 1:100 more detailed. According to the curriculum of the Bachelor in Architecture during the first two academic years the students have to trace technical drawings by hand and in the third and fourth trimester they are allowed to introduce 3D digital representations of the projects. The last section of the book collects and displays through a simple layout the short description of the designed dorm, the plan views, the elevations and the sections. In addition to the elements mentioned, a rendering is provided in order to capture the essence of the building in a single glimpse.

In conclusion, I address a special acknowledgement to all people and organisms involved in this project and that supported its realization and finalization with a special regard to the students that are the real protagonists of this story.

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Bibliography Dequeker P., Kanene M., De Herde A., “L’Architecture Tropicale.

Théorie et mise en pratique en Afrique tropicale humide”, Centre de Recherches Pédagogiques, Kinshasa, 1992.

Quatremère de Quincy, A.C., “The Historical Dictionary of Architecture”, trans. Samir Younés, Andreas Papadakis, London, 1999.

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Tropical Architecture in Rwanda

Manlio Michieletto

Aldo Rossi predicts the construction of the city over time, a time that seems having crystallized and at the same time made people forget the Tropical Architecture in the sub-Saharan countries: “The city, (...) is considered as an architecture. By architecture, we do not only mean the visible image of the city and all its architectures. It’s more about architecture as construction. We want to talk about the construction of the city over time” (Rossi, 1966). The targeted Architecture refers to a precise period of time in the African Continent, identifiable through the application of a series of grammar elements that have been employed since the early decades of the twentieth century mixing Western modernism with the local climatic conditions, a perfect symbiosis and synthesis between the human being, the environment and the traditions. It is indeed the so called tropical modernism or perhaps better “tropical international style” that resists until the 60s and slightly continuing in the postcolonial period (Dequeker, Kanene, 1992), after the Independence achieved by many African countries.

Nonetheless, “the revolutionary force of the past” as Pier Paolo Pasolini said, seems to have been lost its impetus in the modern tradition. Travelling around the sub-Saharan region and in some of its capital cities the main feeling is about an inexorable oblivion of the tropical modernism replaced by the architecture without architecture that to some extent recalls the Pliny the Elder with his statement: Ex Africa semper aliquid novi (always something new out of Africa).

Ernesto Nathan Rogers defines the journey as “building material” that has to be used to progressively build an ideal “path” that corresponds to the architect’s experience, it could be compared to an arch that supports the stones of the knowledge. Moreover, the journey is intrinsically linked to the experience, because it is through the known – the already made up, that we are destined to capture the unknown, the future. Intended as a metaphysic journey along the architectural history through which the architect is called to grasp inspiration directly connected within the tradition. A modern architectural language that is the result of the present know how but linked to the past, as any data becomes important if it is connected to another (Eco, 1990).

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1. Tropical KBC building in Kigali (2019). Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

2. Tropical SORAS building in Kigali (2018). Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

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The tropical architecture is usually associated – as previously said, with the modernist architecture in Africa and it began to take its first steps in British colonies, especially on the Golf Coast, today’s Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Gambia at the end of the Second World War and subsequently developed in other countries of the continent. This chapter of the history of architecture is depicted in few written works where a contextualised and appropriate analysis has been traced. Books in the form of projects’ collection: New architecture in Africa by Udo Kultermann (1963) and African Modernism by Manuel Hertz (2015). Books in the form of treatise: Village Housing in the Tropics with special reference to West Africa (1947) and Tropical Architecture in the Dry and Humid Zones (1964) by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. Books in the form of Historical text: Modern Architectutre in Africa by Antoni S. Folkers. Books in the form of manual: Manual for Tropical housing and building (1974) by Koenigsberger and L’Architecture Tropicale. Théorie et mise en pratique en Afrique tropicale humide by Paul Dequeker and Corneille Kanene Mudimubadu published in 1992, in the Republic of Zaire.

This last book is the leading work completely dedicated to the tropical architecture in central African region. The first paragraph of the introduction deals with the fundamental question of a correct reading of the buildings, namely to define an architectural grammar appropriate to the context: “We have tried to define an architectural grammar capable of uniting twentieth century technology with the particular conditions of region, to local materials and construction techniques available, to the human scale and to a climatic and geometric rigor” (Dequeker, Kanene, 1992). Moreover, it describes and illustrates in an exhaustive and complete way the constructive process in the humid tropical Africa: climate approach, wind and ventilation, shading, protection against heat transmission and natural lighting. This climatic problem, connected with the composition of the constituent parts of the buildings, gave birth to an identity that must not forget that “simple life forms are the closest to perfection” (Dequeker, Kanene, 1992).

The tropical architecture approach is characterized by the observance of few and simple principles that are typical even in the Rwandan artefacts of the first half the XX century as well as in the contemporary ones. First step is to accurately study the site pro-

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3. Tropical house in Huye built in the 50s (Southern Province, Rwanda). Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

4. Tropical Post Office in Huye built in the 50s (Southern Provinve, Rwanda). Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

5. On the following pages. Students visiting the site’s project. Photo by: Manlio Michieletto.

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viding the correct orientation to the building. To Orient, the word means “to indicate the east”, and east derives from the Latin Oriente, and indicates the direction from which the sun rises during the equinoxes. Light comes from the East therefore; the orientation is closely connected with the position of the sun from the very beginning of Architecture. In Tropical Africa, the question of the orientation of the house is a determining factor for thermal comfort, and normally it’s preferable to privilege the arrangement of the different spaces of the house along the east-west axis with the north and south facades less exposed to the direct solar radiation. Another important factor in orienting the building is the distance from the equator, which is a fundamental factor for knowing the inclination of the sun during the day and thus, providing the house with appropriate protective devices. The walls facing east and west, which are sunny in the morning and afternoon respectively, must be also protected and insulated so that the heat is not transmitted into the building. The roof, which is mostly exposed to the sun during the day, must be able to reflect the heat, and an adequate spacing between the roof and the ceiling so that it can be constantly ventilated. For the roof covering the use of materials with high inertia, for example tiles of local manufactured, or poor conductive capacity, such as corrugated aluminium, are to be preferred for zenithal protection. In tropical humid climates it is advisable to place buildings in such a way as to exploit the prevailing winds as a natural resource capable of transversely ventilating the interior spaces. Shape, size and position of the openings are also key items to be taken into consideration during the design phase. Building materials are normally local stone, clay and wood with the addition of reinforced concrete. The tropical decorative apparatus consists of those architectural elements peculiar of the modern language that are adapted to the context: the cantilevered roof to increase the protection of the facade, the vertical or horizontal slabs (brisesoleil), the perforated walls, the ventilated façade, the raised frames to protect the openings, the different air intakes and often the use of arcades or “barza”. These components are obsessively repeated

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in a sort of rational mannerism capable of harmoniously linking the strategies for placing the project with the existing environment.

Architects are called to play an important role designing and building the future “Pyramids” therefore, ignoring the Pyramids will jeopardise the achievement reached by the Tropical Architecture.

Architecture builds itself on Architecture or to paraphrase Calvino, an Architecture has never finished saying what it has to say. It is a determined and delimited time, or as has been said, a surrealist representation of a journey through time where time seems to have stopped, and where the immediate seems to make us forget and lose the essential, in the belief that “nothing is hidden under the sun” as argued by Leonardo da Vinci.

Bibliography Dequeker P., Kanene M., De Herde A., “L’Architecture Tropicale.

Théorie et mise en pratique en Afrique tropicale humide”, Centre de Recherches Pédagogiques, Kinshasa, 1992.

Rossi A., “The Architecture of the city”, MIT press, Boston, 1982.

Eco U., “Il pendolo di Foucault”, Grasset, Paris, 1990.

Fry M., Drew J., “Village Housing in the Tropics, with special reference to West Africa”, Lund Humpheries, London, 1947.

Fry M., Drew J., “Tropical Architecture in the Dry and Humid Zones”, Krieger Pub. Co, London, 1964.

Ki-Zerbo J., “Storia critica dell’Africa”, Edizioni Panafrika, Dakar, 2008.

Koenigsberger O.H., Ingersoli T. G., Mayhew, A., Szokolay, S. V., “Manual of Tropical Housing and Building”, Longman Group, London, 1974.

Kultermann U., “New architecture in Africa”, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963.

Calvino I., “Invisible cities”, Einaudi, Torino, 1972.

Calvino I., “Why read the classics”, Pantheon Books, New York, 1999.

Hertz M., et al., “African Modernism: The Architecture of Independence. Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Zambia”, Park Books, Zurich, 2015.

Folkers A. S., van Buiten B., “Modern Architecture in Africa”, Springer, Berlin, 2019.

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PROJECTS Muhazi Youth Dormitory

The location of the project area on the hills of Kigali, Rwanda, near the lake Muhazi.

Below, a three-dimensional model of one of the projects proposed by the students for the Muhazi dormitory.

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Ground floor plan

First floor plan BUGIRIMFURA John

University of Rwanda Departement of Architecture

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The dorm is designed to accommodate the people taking part to the summer camps at Muhazi lake in Rwamagana district as a part of the activities planned by the NGO Youth for Christ. The building has a capacity to accommodate 60 boys and 60 girls (120 overall) in 2 wings in a 2 stories block building linked by double height common space that can be used a multipurpose hall and its mezzanine used as a library.

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10m

Each wing also has a large backyard for washing clothes and laundry with a storage and in front of the common space there is a sort of an amphitheatre that can hosts different events. All these spaces are arranged in a way that the views of lake Muhazi are optimised and the slope of the building plot is taken into consideration for less excavation during construction.

MUHAZI YOUTH DORMITORY

North elevation

Section

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TEACHING ACTIVITY

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PROJECT TEAM

Manlio Michieletto is an Italian architect. He graduated in 2007 from the Iuav University of Venice, and earned a PhD in Architectural Composition in 2010 from the Iuav School of Doctorate with a thesis titled: “Compose the Siedlung: The Niddatal project by Ernst May, Frankfurt 1925-1930”. After various professional and academic experiences as Assistant Lecturer at the Polytechnic of Turin and at the Faculty of Architecture “Aldo Rossi” he moved in 2010 to Africa. First in Burkina Faso as consultant for social projects such as hospitals and affordable housing and then in DR Congo where he added to the professional practice the position of Associate Professor at the INBTP and ISAU in Kinshasa. Since 2016 he is a senior lecturer (coordinator Architectural Studio 1&2 and Architectural Theory modules) at the Department of Architecture and Dean of the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Rwanda. He has been visiting professor at the Mekelle University (Ethiopia), at the Future University Karthoum, (Sudan), at NSPA Butare (Rwanda), at UKA Kananga (DR Congo) and UNIKIN Kinshasa (DR Congo). The tropical architecture, heritage and urban design are the main research topics that have also guided the latest publications: The past that will be (Il Poligrafo, 2019), Rwandan beauty. The future of the heritage (Anteferma, 2019) and The Architecture of the city of Kigali (LetteraVentidue, 2020).

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Carly Althoff is an architect and Managing Director of the African branch of a global design NGO Journeyman International (JI). JI aims to empower and train designers in the architectural and engineering fields, while at the same time providing a valuable design service to nonprofits and social enterprises that are doing meaningful humanitarian and development work across the world. Carly relocated from California to Rwanda 3 years ago to start up and run Journeyman’s base of operations in East Africa, overseeing the design and implementation of over 30 built projects across the region in partnership with African universities, nonprofits, and private sector actors. Throughout that time, Carly has been engaging student designers from the University of Rwanda as well as multiple other universities around the world to provide opportunities for young professionals to impact vulnerable people through architecture.

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January 2021 PRESS UP Roma

Tropical Architecture in Rwanda tells the story of a design studio run in the academic year 2018-19 at the Department of Architecture of the University of Rwanda. 22 students worked for 11 weeks on the project of a youth dormitory in a site close to the lake Muhazi in the Eastern Province 33 kilometres far from capital city Kigali. The synergic collaboration with the non-profit organization Journeyman International led the students to work on a real project requested by the International NGO “Youth for Christ”, a dormitory to host 120 kids during their summer vacation surrounded by an amazing and flourishing natural environment. The aim core of the design studio was to transmit an architectural method to compose spaces in a peculiar habitat characterized by the tropical climate that substantially means to comply with few and simple rules: building orientation, sun protection and natural ventilation. After the analysis of selected case studies, mostly realized in the East African Region, the design process proceeded individually through the conception of the artefact made by three main components: a common sheltered area and the female and male blocks. The client requirements pointed out the needs of having a visual connection with the lake, a prominent environmental preservation placing the building along the contour lines and the use of locally produced construction materials. The book presents in the last section the final conceived outputs in order to demonstrate that the future is directed towards a tropical architecture in Rwanda.

ISBN 978-88-32050-57-8

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