K
wame Nkrumah Presidential
Library’s project comes from
Samia Nkrumah’s dream to
promote cultural improvement and
sustainable development in her
country, the Republic of Ghana. She
is the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah,
the African politician who drove
Ghana to independence in 1957, and
she is now the leader of the political
movement founded by her father: the Convention
people’s party (CPP). The library is conceived as a
big “knowledge center” based on education, in all
its forms. The project includes reading rooms and
gathering spaces, conference halls, workshops and
co-working activities. The library will also host rooms
and laboratories to hold music classes as well as art
and handicraft learning sessions. By joining Ghana’s
education network, the library is going to represent
the primary tool to train the next generation.
83% of Ghana’s population don’t have internet
access, and most of the students don’t get to have
books at school. To support social cohesion it is in
fact paramount to involve the youngster in every
cultural programs. The Young graduated students will
have here the possibility to join internships or to be
involved in child educational programs. The library
will therefore represent an opportunity to train new
professionals in fields like Culture and Education.
ArchitectS: Mario Cucinella
Architects
PROJECT: Polyfunctional Sporting
Centre
Location: Volta Lake, Ghana
TEAM: Mario Cucinella, Monica
Luppi, Luca Sandri, Emanuele
Dionigi, Michele Olivieri, Gabriele
Motta, Giulia Pentella, Pietro
Marziali
model makers: Yuri Costantini,
Ambra Cicognani and Letizia Lanzi
Rendering: Cristian Chierici CC
79; Engram Studio
Year: 2013 – on going project
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The site
The Library will be built in Akosombo, on the
riverside of Volta Lake, the biggest artificial lake
and one of the main water stocks in the world (circa
8.502 km² wide, 148 km³ stored water) Lake Volta
Dike, which was promoted by Kwame Nkrumah
himself, generates enough electricity for almost
the whole country and it is a fundamental source of
power for local industries. More than two million
people live nearby the lake, which is a also a primary
source of drinking water and fish.
Description of the functional components
The library will be a six-story building measuring
4600 square meters. The floors are developed around
a big central empty space and they are structured
according to a flexible scheme allowing free and
diversified arrangement of the areas. Each floor will
be connected through stairs and boardwalks and the
curtain wall system offers a continuous perception
of the external landscape. The main hall and the
children areas will be situated at the ground floor
and they will connected to the first floor where the
laboratories and workshop rooms are. The first
floor will also host spaces for arts and architecture
exhibitions and it will include an handicraft section,
with a 3D laboratory.
Upper floors will be occupied by reading and