Doudou Deme News Today

This year’s curator, the Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko, has brought new insights and perspectives, prioritising representation from Africa and the diaspora. The works on show serve to highlight the role architecture plays in expressing the best and worst of humanity

AfricaSenegal architects ditch concrete for earth in revival of old techniques Christophe PerreNellie Peyton 1/6 A worker carries a newly made brick at the Elementerre factory in Mbour, Senegal May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Read More Construction is booming in Dakar, where unfinished apartment blocks tower over most streets, their exposed concrete bricks a dull uniform grey. In one site, however, a building stands out - the bricks the workers are laying are made of raw, red earth. Concr...

Construction is booming in Dakar, where unfinished apartment blocks tower over most streets, their exposed concrete bricks a dull uniform grey. In one site, however, a building stands out – the bricks the workers are laying are made of raw, red earth. Concrete is inexpensive and used with abandon in Senegal’s capital, but it is poorly suited to the West African heat. On summer days, when temperatures frequently reach 100 degrees fahrenheit (38°C), the buildings become furnaces, cooled only...