Atelier Masōmī has just revealed its design for The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development (EJS Center). President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf chose an all-female team to work on the project with lead architect Mariam Issoufou Kamara of Atelier Masōmī, exhibition's architect Sumayya Vally of Counterspace, and the local architect Liberian architect Karen Richards Barnes. The EJS Center, located in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, will provide digital access to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s personal and professional archives.
The local architecture of Liberia served as the inspiration for Mariam Issoufou Kamara's design, which paid particular attention to the local palava huts. Their tall, exaggeratedly pitched roofs were originally a direct reaction to the climate to control Liberia's intense rainfalls. These homes have colorful and functional weaving patterns on the ceilings. The collection of huts would be visually impressive when grouped together, as they were in rural areas, and would represent a sense of community. The huts were a significant design inspiration for the EJS Center, redesigned for municipal use. Similar overly tilted roofs on the resulting structures aid in natural ventilation by allowing heat and moisture to escape through the roof.
The project will extensively use regional resources, including raw earth bricks, burned clay bricks, rubber wood, and woven palm leaves. This tactic prepares the ground for including regional manufacturers, craftspeople, and builders in the project to support economic sustainability. Establishing the EJS Center will involve creating a modern, cutting-edge complex in close collaboration with the people of Monrovia rather than importing resources and labor. With native plants, the vegetation makes the area more attractive and helps with storm-water management. Courtyards that add to the project's collection of buildings' aerated places for gathering and workshop programs. Its series of exhibition rooms, currently being designed by Vally, are complemented by community amenities that allow for conferences, workshops, and access to a library and learning center.
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Mariam Issoufou Kamara Chosen to Design New Museum and Center for Culture and Community in West SenegalThe design is a direct response to the history, climate, cultural and architectural heritage of Liberia. The project is an introspection on the challenges faced and on the strength and hope brought about by inspirational leaders such as Madam Sirleaf. The first woman Head of State on the continent, her ability to bring communities together, and be supported by those communities in return, particularly women, was an important component of the conceptual vision of the project. The objective was to design a building that captured the sense of humility, service to a people, grounded in cultural authenticity and great vision that symbolizes Madam Sirleaf’s work.
--Mariam Issoufou Kamara
The oceanfront café leads into a spacious plaza that may be used for events and neighborhood gatherings. The concept is fundamentally sustainable, creating several straightforward methods for reducing energy use and material waste. The design favors natural light over artificial lighting by including numerous skylights and windows, helping to get around Monrovia's protracted electricity problems. The interiors stay cooler throughout the hottest months thanks to opportunities for natural ventilation, which also reduces the need for artificial conditioning. The utilization of solar panels to generate a sizeable amount of electricity for the Center's daily activities will strengthen this endeavor to reduce energy use.
In 2018, Atelier Masōmī and Studio Chahar designed and restored a culture and education hub that houses a library and a mosque in Niger. Additionally, Atelier Masōmī designed a daily rural market in Dandaji, Niger. The market is organized around an ancestral tree that has long been an essential public space in the neighborhood. Finally, the founder of Atelier Masōmī, Mariam Issoufou Kamara, was chosen last year to design Bët-bi, a new museum, and center for culture and community in southwestern Senegal.
