The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation already has strong ties with the Tambacounda region of Senegal; the organisation was behind the Thread Centre, which opened in 2015 as a site for artists from around the world to live and work in the rural village of Sinthian. Now, the foundation and Le Korsa have conceived and are funding a new initiative in the area - the extension to the local hospital – and the project has just been awarded to award winning Swiss architect Manuel Herz.
The brief called for the architect to enhance and expand the existing hospital facilities, and after a rigorous selection process, the Basel-based architect was chosen for the scheme, which is due to commence on site in September 2018.
The winning proposal feels both modern and sensitive to its environment. The extension features a curvilinear building connected to the existing hospital by a covered pathway. Brickwork that creates a lattice-like texture both serves a functional purspose, in that it filters light through and helps the air to circulate naturally, but also references local architecture, such as the Mashrabiya tradition. Herz, who was the curator and architect of the National Pavilion of the Western Sahara at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2016, has worked with the region’s architecture before.
The design ‘aims at becoming a model and new paradigm for medical institutions in Senegal and for the African continent as a whole’, says Herz.
The project will provide a much needed boost in the capacity of the Tambacounda hospital, which currently recieves about 20,000 patients a year and is overstretched in terms of resources and space.
The hospital is designed as a complex of interconnected volumes of old and new, set within the Senegal landscape.
The interstitial space between the existing buildings and the new extension will become a space for meeting and communication.
The corridors are protected from sun and rain by a brick screen that allows cross-ventilation and filters light through.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Manuel Herz and the website of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
-
A new book offers a cinematic view on Molteni & C‘Molteni Mondo. An Italian Design Story’ published by Rizzoli celebrates 90 years of the Italian furniture company Molteni & C
-
Ikea introduces its first gaming furniture collectionBrännboll is the first Ikea gaming furniture collection, unveiled during Milan Design Week 2024 and designed to swiftly transform a domestic space into a gamer’s paradise
-
Morgan take their classic roadster and give it subtle but significant tweaks for 2024New details and features give the compulsive Morgan Plus Four an even more pared back silhouette and driving ability
-
The best gyms around the world for design buffs in 2018 -
New Berlin gym uses neuroscience to improve physical healthHagius is a new Berlin gym that uses light and scent to create the optimal enviroment for your workout
-
PAD Studio completes Portsmouth tennis pavilion -
WeWork gets physical with its first gym and wellness club -
Knock out: Bergman Interiors packs a punch at boutique boxing gym BXR London -
Chemical reaction: a modern holistic haven in Taiwan reinvents the pharmacy -
Heat rises: Melbourne hot yoga studio expands to Sydney -
Hackney’s hip new gym Blok opens with focus on fitness, fighting and bone broth
