Kéré Architecture unveils brick mausoleum for Burkina Faso's former president

Berlin-based studio Kéré Architecture has designed the Thomas Sankara Mausoleum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to commemorate the country's former president who was assassinated in the 1980s.

Built using locally-sourced laterite and clay bricks, the mausoleum forms the resting place of Thomas Sankara – a revolutionary figure recognised for his efforts in championing women's rights, environmental campaigns and economic independence in the country.

He was president of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987, when 12 officials were also killed.

Built on the site of the assassination, which according to the studio had become a "place of fear" for the community, Kéré Architecture sought to transform the area into a place of hope and remembrance.

"This is the first time I have been asked to take on the responsibility of constructing a building in memory of a great figure," said studio founder Diébédo Francis Kéré.

"It has now been transformed into a space of encounter and recreation, that fosters remembrance, respect, and hope," he added. "The mausoleum will be a space that belongs to the people."

The 450-square-metre mausoleum comprises a rounded volume topped with a 34-metre-wide dome and punctuated on its exterior by 13 triangular openings to represent those killed.

A smaller structure sits adjacent to this and is complete with an overhanging roof adorned with colourful cladding.

From here, visitors are guided round to the building's brightly-coloured gated entrances, which are oriented to capture prevailing winds that passively cool the structure.

Inside, a ramp and short staircase lead down into the mausoleum, where the 13 tombs were arranged concentrically around the edge of the space – informed by the sun path.

The tombs were each crowned with an individual skylight that draws in sunlight to illuminate a different tomb each hour and move visitors into "a new space of
remembrance".

Throughout the space, the orange-hued brick walls are paired with pastel-green and yellow steel used for the doors and railings.

The mausoleum forms the first completed building in a larger memorial development, which will include a 100-metre-tall tower and a memorial park, both designed by designs by Kéré Architecture

According to the studio, the Thomas Sankara Memorial Park will contain an amphitheater, restaurants, shops and offices, alongside educational and conference facilities.

Meanwhile, beside the mausoleum, the tower will rise above the domed structure and have an accessible terrace at 87-metres in reference to the year of Sankara's assassination.

Elsewhere, thick concrete slabs were used to create a "vertical mausoleum" in Los Angeles and brick turrets topped with cylindrical skylights feature in a mausoleum in Bangladesh.

Recently, Lagos-based Oshinowo Studio has unveiled designs for an etched-glass war memorial in Sierra Leone and proposals for a memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in London have been revealed.

The photography is courtesy of Kéré Architecture. 

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