African Design Magazine Africa's Top 10 Projects of 2015 | Page 47

Library of Muyinga, Burundi
Life happens mostly in this hallway porch; encounters, resting, conversation, waiting – it is
a truly social space, constitutive for community relations.
The hallway porch is deliberately oversized to become the extent of the library.
Transparent doors between the columns create the interaction between inside space and
porch. Fully opened, these doors make the library open up towards the adjacent square
with breath-taking views over Burundi’s “milles collines” (1000 hills).
On the longitudinal end, the hallway porch flows onto the street, where blinders control
access. These blinders are an important architectural element of the street facade,
showing clearly when the library is open or closed. On the other end, the hallway porch
will continue as the main circulation and access space for the future school.

A very important element in Burundian (and, generally, African) architecture is the very
present demarcation of property lines. It is a tradition that goes back to tribal practices
of compounding family settlements. For the library of Muyinga, the compound wall
was considered in a co-design process with the community and the local NGO. The wall
facilitates the terracing of the slope as a retaining wall in dry stone technique, low on the
squares and playground of the school side, high on the street side. Thus, the view towards
the valley is uncompromised, while safety from the street side is guaranteed.
The general form of the library is the result of a structural logic, derived on one hand
from the material choice (Compressed Earth Blocks masonry and baked clay roof tiles).
The locally produced roof tiles were considerably heavier than imported corrugated
iron sheets. This inspired the structural system of closely spaced columns at 1m 30cm
intervals, which also act as buttresses for the high walls of the library. This rhythmic
repetition of columns is a recognizable feature of the building, on the outside as well as
on the inside. The roof has a slope of 35% with an overhang to protect the unbaked CEB
blocks, and contributes to the architecture of the library.

Climatic considerations inspired the volume and facade: a high interior with continuous
cross-ventilation helps to guide the humid and hot air away. Hence, the façade is
perforated according to the rhythm of the Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) masonry,
giving the library its luminous sight in the evening. The double room height at the street
side gave the possibility to create a special space for the smallest of the library readers.
This children’s space consist of a wooden sitting corner on the ground floor, which might
facilitate cosy class readings. It is topped by an enormous hammock of sisal rope as a
mezzanine, in which the children can dream away with
the books that they are reading.
The future school will continue to swing intelligently through the landscape of the site,
creating playgrounds and courtyards to accommodate existing slopes and trees. In the
meanwhile, the library will work as an autonomous building with a finished design. AD

PROJECT TEAM
CLIENT: ODEDIM
Muyinga NGO, Satimo vzw, SintARCHITECTS: BC Architects
Lucas Architecture University,
2
SIZE: 140m
Sarolta Hüttl, Sebastiaan De Beir,
COOPERATION: ODEDIM
Hanne Eckelmans
africandesignmagazine.com

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