Prizewinner in the Biennial of Spanish Architecture and Urbanism
THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMBEY EXTENSION PROJECT IN SENEGAL, IS CHOSEN FROM HUNDREDS OF PROPOSALS
“More liveable, more humane” is the motto of the XIV edition of the awards organized by the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU). As usual, hundreds of proposals were submitted to the contest. On July 19, the award ceremony took place at the Botín Foundation (Santander, Spain). Only a few projects, 23 of the 313 submitted, had the honor of achieving the status of “winners”. The expansion project of the University of Alioune Diop de Bambey, in Senegal, was one of them (the Gaston Berger University extension project, in San Luis, Senegal, another work submitted by IDOM, was selected for inclusion in the BEAU catalog). The project, managed by our colleagues Federico Pardos and Javier Pérez Uribarri, aims to respond to the context with a beautiful proposal in terms of its efficiency. The design, originating from the architectural section, is a building of 7,200 m² with a large double roof and latticework on the south façade, forming an L-shaped shield that avoids direct solar radiation and naturally generates constant air flow between the classrooms and the envelope. As a result, the temperature of the classrooms decreases by about 15º compared to the usual 40 or 45 degrees outside.
The prestigious architecture critic Anatxu Zabalbeascoa commented on this, on July 20 in El País newspaper:
“Although it is true that many of the prizewinning buildings share an aesthetic based on the scarcity of means, the fashion of the povera would generate distrust if it were not so entirely sustainable and cost-effective. Drawing on knowledge, it indicates that tradition can be associated with technology both in the humblest projects and those signed off by large firms, such as IDOM, in its award-winning extension of the Alioune Diop University in Diourbel (Senegal). This aesthetics indicates that in scarcity, there is also space for the artistic side and that to excel, a building needs to be more necessary than striking “.
More information on the project
Click here to read the entire article in El País (Spanish)
