Atelier Masōmī unveils design for geometric Bët-bi art museum in Senegal

Nigerien architect Mariam Kamara's studio Atelier Masōmī has revealed visuals of the Bët-bi museum in Kaolack, Senegal, which will draw on the area's ancient megaliths.

The museum, which will showcase contemporary and historic African art with a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa, will also function as a centre for culture and community.

Located in Kaolack in southwestern Senegal, a region that is known for its ancient stone megaliths, the 1,000-square-metre building was designed in response to its surroundings.

Museum to build on "significance of the area"

"Atelier Masōmī 's proposal links the history of the stone megaliths with the present – building upon the significance of the area through a sensitive response to both the cultural heritage of the site and its future potential," the studio said.

Visuals of the building show five triangular volumes that are split into two groups and connected by a walkway. The museum will be constructed using "sustainable and traditional methods of building," the studio said.

The Bët-bi museum will be constructed using traditional building methods

Atelier Masōmī plans to work with local artisans on the project to help draw attention to the region's heritage. The Bët-bi museum's design references the people who jointly founded the area, the Serer and the Mandinka.

"The Mandinka have historically been people of empire and monumental architecture, which provided us naturally with direct references for building," Kamara told Dezeen.

"The Serer, on the other hand, held a deeply mystical indigenous religion that had an intimate relationship to the natural elements: the sun, the wind, water, ancestral spirits."

Atelier Masōmī drew on the Serers' belief system when creating the shape of the triangular buildings.

"The starting point came from looking at this traditional spiritual realm and the series of triangles that define the relationship between the elements, the living and the dead – a self-renewing cycle," Kamara said.

"It also provided a good way of organising program that is interconnected yet distinct."

Bët-bi to showcase West African art

The Bët-bi museum will house exhibition and event spaces as well as a library and community rooms. It is slated to open in 2025.

Bët-bi, which means "the eye" in Wolof – one of Senegal's national languages, will be staffed with locally recruited curators and staff.

As well as showing contemporary art, the museum also intends to serve as a temporary space for repatriated African objects and aims to play a role in global initiatives to secure the return of West African objects.

"It is a great honour and a privilege to be selected to lead the design of Bët-bi," Kamara said. "For far too long our region has been a place where cultural wealth is pillaged to profit museum collections."

"This project is an opportunity to design a new type of space that is inspired by the roots and spiritual legacy of the region," she added. "It is a chance to push the boundaries of what defines a museum in the 21st century."

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The museum will be operated by non-profit organisation The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation together with La Korsa, its sister organisation in Senegal.

Atelier Masōmī was selected for the project from a shortlist of four African architectural firms, coming out ahead of Aziza Chaouni Projects, MASS Design Group and Meskerem Assegued and Elias Sime.

The studio's recent projects include a market in Dandaji, Niger and a library and community center in a formerly derelict mosque.

The visuals are courtesy of Atelier Masōmī.

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Mariam Kamara and Sumayya Vally to design presidential library in Liberia

Nigerien architect Mariam Kamara and South African architect Sumayya Vally are collaborating to design a presidential library for Liberia's former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Monrovia.

Named the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development (EJS Center), the library is set to be built in Liberia's capital city, Monrovia, alongside the country's presidential residence.

Designed by Atelier Masomi founder Kamara and Counterspace founder Vally, along with Liberian architect Karen Richards Barnes, the building will contain exhibits dedicated to the "history and culture of African women", including Sirleaf.

First presidential library dedicated to a woman

It will also contain the archives of Sirleaf, who was the first elected female head of state in Africa and led Liberia from 2006-2018.

"The project will be a landmark in every sense of the word," said the EJS Center.

"Never before has a woman president founded and commissioned the design and build of a presidential center and library."

The library dedicated to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (top) will be designed by Mariam Kamara (above). Photo is by Stephane Rodrigez Delavega

Along with the archives, the centre will act as headquarters for an organisation led by Sirleaf that aims to be "a catalyst for political and social change across Africa by helping unleash its most abundant latent power – its women".

"It will offer a space for training and networking, present exhibits that inspire women to pursue leadership in all spheres, and be a national and international hub for programs that advance the socio-economic situation of women and girls and uphold their rights and democratic freedom," explained the EJS Center.

Sumayya Vally will design pavilions and exhibition spaces at the centre. Photo is by Mikhael Subotzky

Kamara will lead the overall design of the centre, which will occupy a series of circular buildings overlooking the Atlantic, while Vally will act as scenography, pavilions and exhibition architect.

The building will be constructed from local materials including Liberian rubberwood and will incorporate artworks from African artists, designers, and artisans.

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"The use of local materials and traditional architectural styles reflects the center's respect for African artistry and will inspire the same in others, bringing a sense of history, culture, and social context to visitors," added the EJS Center.

Kamara, who was a judge for Dezeen Awards 2020, is currently designing a raw-earth-brick cultural centre in Niger and previously converted a former mosque into a library and community centre.

Counterspace founder Vally recently designed the Serpentine Pavilion in London and was recently named one of Time magazine's 100 leaders of the future.

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Asif Khan, Mariam Kamara, David Adjaye and Theaster Gates to redevelop Liverpool waterfront

Architects Asif Khan, Mariam Kamara and David Adjaye and artist Theaster Gates have been chosen to transform Liverpool's Canning Dock in a project aiming to bring the history of the transatlantic slave trade into the public realm.

The team was unanimously chosen as the winner of the Canning Dock competition by a jury of local representatives and industry experts, beat competitors including architecture studios BIG and OMMX.

The Waterfront Transformation: Canning Dock project, which is part of National Museums Liverpool's 10-year plan to transform the city's waterfront, will encompass the area between the Royal Albert Dock and Mann Island as well as all waterfront facilities.

It intends to revitalise the complex site, which was used in the 18th century to serve and repair ships including those used in the transatlantic slave trade.

Project "explores the power of architecture as a storytelling tool"

Together with Plan A Consultants, Prior + Partners, The Place Bureau, Hara Design Institute, Akt II and Arup, the winning studios will redevelop the site's buildings including the Dr Martin Luther King Jr building, which will sit at the centre of the International Slavery Museum.

The museum, which houses exhibitions that explore and investigate the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade, will also be given a "dramatic" new front door as it does not currently have its own entrance.

Top image: A team of three architects and one artist will revive Canning Dock, above

"The Canning Dock transformation is a chance to explore the power of architecture as a storytelling tool to bridge the gaps in knowledge that exist about the history of Liverpool as well as this significant site," Atelier Masomi-founder Kamara said.

"The NML Waterfront Transformation is an opportunity to pull on the threads that make up the history of the transatlantic slave trade – from Africa, across the Atlantic to the US and back to Liverpool – to bridge gaps, to exhume memories and ultimately bring to the fore an exciting space for the public to explore and engage with the history of Liverpool while firmly facing towards the future."

Team to design new bridges and redevelop dry docks

The team's redesign will focus on the public realm of the project and will encompass new bridges from the Pump House to Mann Island, as well as a transformation of two dry docks into an "educational and cultural experience."

"Our collaborative team composed of technical architects, planetary architects and an artist envisions the NML Waterfront Transformation as an opportunity to powerfully reformulate the history of Liverpool through re-invigorating the diverse social, civic and environmental context of the city," said Adjaye.

Two dry docks will be turned into cultural spaces

The project intends to use "compelling, yet sensitive" designs to bring the history of the slave trade to the forefront and will work together with Liverpool's Black communities.

Khan said that for the team, this is more than just a project.

"For National Museums Liverpool we have formed a different kind of design team – not simply to deliver a project, but to steward a significantly meaningful one into being," he explained.

"This new piece of history will welcome voices from across Liverpool and globally from the places and people connected with Canning Dock."

Transformation will include public art strategy

Part of the development will include creating accessible recreational routes in the area, including pedestrian links to the Canning Dock. The new design, which aims to realise the complexity of the site, will also include a public art strategy.

"Commemoration and memorial making are some of the most important acts a nation can be involved in – especially commemoration around racial complexity and social ill," Gates said.

"Canning Dock represents one of the most important racialised sites in the UK and it gives me tremendous honour to work with this team to realise the complexity of the site."

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Arup, BIG, DSDHA, OMMX and Shedkm were the other teams shortlisted for the project, which was managed by Colander Associates and supported by £120,000 of funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA), as part of their Race Equality Programme.

In a live talk streamed on Dezeen last year, Adjaye spoke of how a lack of memorials and monuments dedicated to the victims of slavery is leading to ignorance and memory loss.

The Liverpool waterfront and docklands previously held UNESCO World Heritage status, but the city was stripped of the honour earlier this year due to recent developments on the waterfront.

Images are by Gary W Smith.

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