Aging in Africa

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Aging in Africa

Type

Residential › Multi Unit Housing
Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant
Cultural › Religious
Educational › Elementary School

SIZE

100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

Aging in Africa sets out to
be the first age-valued community on the African continent where the elderly
can maintain a meaningful and healthy lifestyle in a comfortable and safe
environment. It is a retirement
community for Catholic priests that are excluded from the traditional, family
based, model of elder care in Cote D’Ivoire. The architecture is shaped by
deploying a holistic set of social, economic and environmentally sustainable
theories pertaining to elder living and care.
It is about architecture that does not just house caring, it is architecture
as the caring device. Our hope is that
it is an inspiration for a new breed of community that values the efficacy of
spirit over efficiency of care.

The project, set on a sliver
of land between the Atlantic and an inland lagoon, is organized like a typical
Cote D’Ivoire village around a central spine which stretches North/South from
existing streets to capture the site’s prevailing winds. Perforations along the perimeter let the
natural vegetation grow into the village and capitalize on the stunning views
towards the water. Single story residential buildings frame the village’s spine
and submerge into nature at their back-ends to facilitate drainage and to blend
the site’s edge with the environment.
The project’s public buildings are centered on the village axis to
reinforce their communal function. Based on simple geometries, the building
shapes tilt and fold in relationship to each other, yet with an individual
expression. The peaks of the church employ a simple geometry that yields an
iconic form that is at once a novel and familiar type of sacred space.