Progettare per gli uomini costruire con gli uomini: uno sguardo sull’architettura contemporanea in Africa

In so-called “advanced” societies, architecture now resembles a luxury; on the one hand, it is increasingly more the image of an opulent society or associated with economic resources and, therefore, the private interests of large corporations; on the other hand, paradoxically, it is often considered something superfluous, alien to primary needs and people’s most urgent necessities. Architecture no longer seems “necessary”, no longer something everyone has a right to: the right to live in an environment built by people for people; an environment that is truly the expression of the level of civilisation and culture of the society that produced it. The human and professional experiences in emerging African architects, such as Francis Kéré, Christian Benimana or Mariam Kamara, suggest a rediscovery of the more profound meaning of this “right to architecture”, which we in the West have forgotten, while these figures have managed to interpret it as their life’s mission. Forced to emigrate to follow their dream of becoming architects, they returned to work in the most difficult and extreme situations of their nations, with the intention of putting the skills learned in the West at the service of their native communities, but above all with the conviction that architecture is a necessity, an inalienable right, through with to promote not only real and sustainable economic and cultural growth, but also a social redemption in which each individual can feel they are an active and indispensable participant.