Design idea

All human beings are the same under the sun. The sunshine makes no difference in gender, religion, age or looks. The women’s house ‘The Sun of Africa’ shall shine upon its surroundings to help spreading the message of equality. It provides shelter for women in need and makes it possible for the female community of the local area to meet up. Communication, dialogue and education are the fundamental ways to reach gender equality. These shall lead to emancipation of the women in the region’s development and thus more female participation at all levels of decision making.

By using local materials and building shapes of the region ‘The Sun of Africa’ can easily blend in the surrounding town and gain a public acceptance. The local typology uses rectangular and round shapes for their houses, these shapes form the sun and its rays in this concept for a women’s house. The construction along the village’s primary axis draws attention to the building and may encourage women to visit.

The heart of the building ensemble is the circular forum in which women may hold speeches, presentations, or lessons. It can also be used as a forum for dialogue with locals. The room is organized like an amphitheatre where the speaker stands in the center and the audience sits on the installed stairs at the wall surrounding it. The building is protected from views by the closed backside of the cylindric form. The front opens up to the gardens giving more space to the room and inviting women on the site to join the dialogues held inside. The roof construction of the forum provides a possibility to collect rain within a water reservoir which is located beneath the ground plate of the building. This water may be used for daily needs or watering the surrounding gardens.

A walkway is installed around the round central building, that connects the remaining buildings that are arranged around the forum. The rectangular rays around the central circular building may be variably used as places for management, sanitary facilities and collective activities like workshops or seminars and more. In this concept, the office as a place for administration and organization is placed near the entrance so visitors can easily inform themselves about activities within the women’s house. At the opposite side of the office the sanitary facilities are located. Next to the forum there are two more buildings which can be used to hold lectures and to provide space for workshops.

Around the ensemble four rectangular garden beds are arranged. They may be used as a part of the workshop area to plant flowers or herbs to create local products. More buildings may be constructed around the forum to extend the existing rooms or create new rooms for different purposes.