Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

Panafrican Institute for
Development, Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso
The 5,000 m 2 research and training centre
includes three distinct groups of buildings:
a teaching and administrative centre,
including library and restaurant; housing for
72 students; and houses for 9 professors.
All walls, vaults and domes were built from
stabilised soil blocks that were manufactured
from local soil on site. The vaults and
the domes were erected in the Nubian technique
without formwork. The exterior surfaces
were plastered with a mud plaster
that is stabilised with lime and cement.
The project was started in 1981 and completed
in 1984. In 1992 it received the Aga
Khan Award for Architecture.
Architect: Philippe Glauser, Zurich, Switzerland
Engineer: Ladji Camara
Financing: EZE (Evangelische Zentralstelle für
Entwicklungshilfe, Bonn-Bad Godesberg), DDA
(Direction de la coopération en développement
et de l’Aide humanitaire, Bern), IPD (Institut
Panafricain pour le Développement)
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Built examples