“clé de voûte casamance “– Keystone of Casamance “

A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece, placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight.”- wikipedia.org. The keystone is pivotal for an arch/vault to stand strong and arches/vaults are one of the strongest form in architectural built. The idea is to represent and bring this strength and vibe into the space designed.

While being strong and sturdy, we also intend to show that a place of learning needs to help everyone grow and hence the wings to fly and reach for the skies. The inspiration of wings is also derived from the abundant bird species found in the place. These birds are excellent fishers and so are the people of casamance, the birds here are diverse yet possess similar traits just like the people and are flying high and low, all the while soaring in the sky. There is intense relatability between the people of casamnce and the flora and fauna here.

The design is so made to have more than one perspective and to elegantly derive the essence of the place. The space designed and created is intended to give a new perspective every time a phase is completed. The design is also intended to look complete at every phase so as to avoid the feeling of incompleteness.

We intend to revive the glory of the thatched roofs, wattle and daub partitions, CEB & CSEB walls, earth bag amphitheatres with utmost truth to materials. The design uses 90 percent of natural material and 100 percent of locally available material in site for the development of the built space. The roof is made in parts to break monotony and let air and light in while simultaneously keeping the rooms cool as they are made of mud and have perforations at 6 inches above the floor level. This design of the roof protects the rooms from harsh light and heat but allow morning sun and cold air in. This helped us in creating angular roof which supports the necessary requirements of executing a solar power system. The roofs are inclined at a 15 degree angle and the roofs are facing south west to maximize the potential of the system.