A Village For Celebration

Miami University

Project idea

The Project celebrates the rehabilitation of the Theatre Populaire. The design aims to create a vibrant and eventful village around the amphitheater that celebrates the art and culture of Burkina Faso. The scattered masses around the amphitheater activates the whole site to guide people to the central performance spaces. Similarly, the centrality of the complex repeats itself in the shadowed central courtyards that engender various activities within the buildings. By respecting the climate and culture, the design aims to be an everyday architecture for the local people. That way, it will be a subtle, yet spontaneous, sustainable catalyst for a change.

Project description

Activation:
The amphitheater, 'Theatre Populaire Desiré Bonogo,' is isolated from the entry and other structures. An engaging journey was required to make people explore the complex to reach the amphitheater eventually. As the site is large enough, instead of going up the design scattered around the site respecting the flat context's horizontality and local building pattern. Consequentially the entire complex activates the whole site through diverse activity. By keeping the amphitheater at the center of events, the design leads people to the 'Theatre Populaire Desiré Bonogo.'

The Show, Work, and Labo area
The show area offers a new theater stage. The stage is covered and can be closed with a collapsible door hidden in the sidewall. A service stair and dumbwaiter/lifting system connect the stage with a workshop and storage at the ground level. So the smooth transport of props and machinery is possible. The work area with backstage facilities and sewing workshop is connected to the stage from the other side.
The sitting area structure is kept as it is with a modification for the physically challenged people. Further, the steps would be retrofitted, and the local artists will decorate the risers in a yearly event. Through the collaborative, the amphitheater will produce a sense of ownership.
In the Labo facilities, movable partition walls make the classrooms flexible. The courtyard, shaded by an existing tree, is perfect for conversations and classroom performances.
The simplicity was vital to make it sustainable. Simple form and local materials ensure easy constructibility and maintenance over time. The shadowed courtyard provides airflow and indirect daylight to the interior of the buildings. The traditional painted wall patterns of Burkina Faso is translated into the wall openings.

Conviviality area
The event street connects the complex. Along the street is space for temporary stalls, festivals, etc. The zigzag street will attract people from a distance and bring them close, where they would discover the sunken amphitheater. At the end of the street is a cafe with public amenities. A service road connects the services along the periphery.

Technical information

The overhang of the corrugated metal roof protects the walls from rain and keep shaded. The double roof system, along with the walls, protects the interior from the hot climate. The walls use rammed earth construction with local clay. Piercing of the lower wall allows cold ground air that ventilates through the opening around the wooden ceiling. The ceiling allows diffused daylight to the classrooms avoiding glares. The wooden shuttered window and doors also help ventilation and indirect lighting. The modular dimension of the wall, ceiling, roof system, etc. helps easy and cheap construction.
Drains around the courtyard collect rainwater to underground well. The water is purified naturally through sand and clay. Buildings are positioned along with the existing trees with further landscaping around.