EL-MOLO HANDICRAFT CENTRE

Handi-Craft Centre, Loiyangalani, Kenya Amalgamation of Built form and Culture; “Good modern architecture seeking some sort of formal character and regional identity adapts aspects of traditional architecture of that region that are worth preserving.” (Write) Kenya is a country with diversied cultures, art and traditions. These diversied cultures and traditions are reected on the art and craft of the country which not only species the identity, but has become one of the most important nancial gains of the country. Their craft traditions is part of the inherited heritage and knowledge that expresses their cultural identity.

The Lake Turkana handicraft center is a one stop craft destination which offers visitors a unique variety of craft-related activities and programs. The visitors will learn about communities of the region through their craft demonstrations and hand-on interactive sessions. This Project will encompasses products that are handmade by the artisans of that region.

The Project will provide local crafts people with a place where they can make, share and learn ideas related to hand made traditional crafts as well as sell their crafts work directly to consumers. As a result, the project will create wealth and jobs in the villages through capacity building, a solution to poverty migration, giving them a chance to survive and prosper without uprooting themselves.

The government through vision 2030 aims to create a visionary project that will foster tourism in the region and attract investors. With the rich and diverse cultural heritage and the unique yet picturesque geographical features, this project aims to transform the lake region into a thriving cultural and economic hub.

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Site Location

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he architecture of the lake Turkana region has lately been disregarded especially with the upcoming developments by the government like the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project, causing the loss of the knowledge handed down by the local population on how to create comfortable built environments with local resources. The project is set out to investigate, analyze and understand the inuence of culture on the built forms in Loiyangalani. Various ndings from the research thesis have been developed.

1. Understanding the local traditional knowledge and social values and how it has been incorporated into built forms gives a more cultural signicance to African architecture of a region. This knowledge can be used by designers to create architecture that has roots and gives a sense of identity to the region.

2. Using local construction materials and technology in the design of the local built forms portrays a rich culture and history of the community. This feature must be incorporated into modern designs. They assert community identity and can signal different messages known to the communities.

3. The communities have learnt to solve their problems by collaborating with nature. This is represented through planning, construction materials, building geometry and construction technology. The porous wall in Lekulo’s home for instance, not only protects them from the intruders, but also the elements. During the day, it acts as thermal mass protecting the interiors from the desert heat but at the same time, due to its porous nature, it also allows cool and dust free breeze to ventilate the interiors.

Loiyangalani is suffering from serious drawbacks such as poverty and lack of basic infrastructure for their craft industry. Although the region boasts of rich and diverse culture, the picturesque physical features and the fact that the region is home to cradle of mankind, not much has been done to fully catch its potential and develop the area into an income generated source. This indigenous communities living in Loiyangalani constantly lack the resources and technical capacity to sustain themselves economically and escape poverty. The communities remain under developed and challenged by poor infrastructure, lack of technological progress, weak educational and health facilities and deciency of nancial institutions that would support them. Most of their handicraft products is produced in households and only displayed during cultural festivals or on request. The working conditions in these households is not ideal and may affect production of their hand crafted products.

EXISTING DESERT MUSEUM

LAKE

PROPOSED SITE LOCATION

Views to Loiyangalani Town

Datum

Community Spine

Main Access

Views to Mount Kulal

Existing Axis

Views to Lake Turkana

Community Hall Performance Area Museum To Lake Turkana

Crafts Workshops Visitors Sector

Fluidity As Design Concept Inspired by place and the cultures within this region, Fluidity is represented as a Socio-Spacial Manifestation:- how materials, function, spaces and behaviors conjoined smoothly in relation to social and contextual forces.

1. Building Technology: This manifest in the: Social and Cultural Aspects (Traditional knowledge) 2. The Landscape: The Undulating Desert Landscape and the saline lake represents the hardship of life in the region and their Resilience in nding ways of Adapting. Engaging with the natural topography help creates spaces that blur the difference between building and landscape.

3. The Social Life: The outdoor space forms the social life for the people of this region. This is also where most of the handicrafts products are made. The communities use the outdoor space for multiple programmatic needs such as: Story telling, Food Preparation, Community Gatherings, Cultural Rituals and for Recreational activities.

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Performance Cultural Spine

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1. The spaces are designed in an incomplete loop that forms a spline that follows the natural landscape. The existing museum denes a spline which forms a node at its centre.

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Cultural

2. The spline is divided into 8 segments representing the 8 communities living in lake Turkana region

3. The spline is then fragmented further by introducing rectangular forms perpendicular to each segment forming a rhythmic pattern that denes space all relating to the centre of the circle.

Built form

Exhibition Galleries

Histori

cal

Natural

Resource Area

Reception

Crafts Workshop

Main Exhibition Space

Hallway

Access Road

Crafts Workshop

Restaurant

Prevailing Winds

4. Positive Vs Negative

6. Adding different variations and fragmentation borrowed from the El Molo traditional settlements.

5. Program

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GALLERIES

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URCE RESO RE CENT

URCE RESO RE CENT

Sculptural Exhibition

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Cairns Cairns

Water Point

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KSHO

WORKSHOP

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Performance

Main Access

RECEPTION

Public Exhibition / Market

Main Entrance RECEPTION Performance

WORKSHOP

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KSHO

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Secondary Entrance Semi-Public

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7. Breaking the formal organization.

PLANNING CONCEPT

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Servicing

8. Increasing the dynamism and complexity of forms without losing continuity, creating series of interconnected courtyards that can be used for outdoor activities and also allows the workshops to receive enough day light and cross ventilation

9. Final Iteration

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LAKE TURKANA

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Site Section

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Legend

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1. Main Entrance

12. Exhibition Gallery

2. Public Parking

13. Museum Block

3. Entrance Foyer

14. Curators Office

4. Private Parking

15. Community Library

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5. Service Bay

16. Research Lab

6. Reception Block

17. Shed for Relaxation

7. Crafts Workshop

18. Pedestrian Walkway

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8. Administration Block 19. Wind Turbines

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9. Kitchen

20. Performance Stage

10. External Dining

21. Material Storage

11. Service (Storage & Toilets)

22. Staff Quarters

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23. Camp Site

SITE DESCRIPTION The existing form of the Desert museum denes a central point that acts as focal point for organizing activities. In order to reduce the cost of construction, the building is designed to sit on a at pad to minimize on escavation thus strategically positioning the building on top of the semi circular cliff providing scenic views to the lake Turkana and the desert landscape. This also positions the building at a vantage point where it can easily be seen as you enter Loiyangalani town.

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Public Parking

Drop Off

Main Entrance

Reception Block

Crafts Workshop

Restaurant

Meeting Place

Resting Area

Outdoor Performance Area

Landscaping

Cultural Intergration The facade integrates the use of natural materials such as stone and timber to reect the surrounding landscape. The wooden saplings and thatched roof used in the design symbolizes a connection to their crafts tradition and more so from their building technology.

The pattern is derived from the ideologies and principles in their built forms such as repetition, rhythm, order and hierarchy. The rectangular hollow section is integrated into the structural design of the roof but most importantly acts as a support for the wooden screen.

Top of Roof Level

Beam Level

Ground floor Level

SIDE ELEVATION

Top of Roof Level Beam Level

Ground floor Level

FRONT ELEVATION

Top of Roof Level Beam Level

Ground floor Level

BACK ELEVATION

Top of Roof Level

Beam Level

Ground floor Level Ground Level

FRONT ELEVATION

5. Roof Thatch

6. The courtyard

Use of low water assumptive and drought tolerant shade trees like the Doum Palm tree and Salvadora persica.

Keeps the harsh direct sun away and facilitates passive cooling of the building while maintaining free ow of air through cross-ventilation.

The roof prole is designed such that it minimizes the surface area exposed to sunlight.

Dry stone walling technique used in the design is porous to allow air movement and reduce solar gain keeping the interiors cool.

Locally grown and harvested doum palm thatch is layered on top of the wooden timber saplings providing a low cost and sustainable building solution representative of traditional construction techniques.

Integrating craft work spaces with vegetation to help reduce high desert temperature by creating a cool natural microclimate.

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Courtyards

Desert Trees

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Roof Material

4. Thermal Mass

Dry Stone Wall

3. Geometry

Roof Geometry

2. The Roof Overhang

Roof Eaves

1. Vegetation

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Cross Ventilation

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

WORKSHOPDESIGN

“Inspired by the Traditional El Molo Builtform (Shed), the workshop re-interpretes a working environment in the Lake Turkana Region.”

Architecture of the craft center is based on a design language that creates buildings as an extension of the environment and that their three dimensional form should depend upon the properties of materials. Vernacular cultures exhibit the art of perfection when it comes to their craft (dressing, decorations, music, architecture and even cuisine). Their understanding of locally available materials, the limitations of site, climate and environment, is interpreted into their built forms that makes them suitable for their region.

Courtyard

Courtyard

Courtyard

Courtyard

BUILT FORM Courtyard Courtyard

BUILT FORM

Prevailing Winds

ENTRANCE

1. TRADITIONAL DESERT PLANNING

2. TRADITIONAL EL MOLO SETTLEMENT

3. BREAKING THE MASS INTO FRAGMENTS

4. ADDING ARCHITECTURAL COMPONENTS

Organization is around the main courtyard. The courtyard is usually provided with water or plants to act as a cooling source and for cross ventilation.

The semi-compact planning inspired by the traditional villages. The oblique angle to the prevailing winds maximizes on natural ventilation.

Adding variations and fragmentation to increase the dynamism and complexity of the spaces. This creates a series of interconnected courtyard that can be used for making crafts.

The walls explores the outdoor experience in hot and dry environment by acting as shading devices making the spaces conducive for working.

1. Thatch Roof The shape of the roof is designed to allow for cross ventilation which removes much of the heat from the sun. Its geometrical shape is formed as a result of blending two lines of opposite direction at the centre, creating a curved surface that mimics the traditional built forms in the region. The thatch used is harvested from the doum palm trees that grow in the region but also mos importantly as a symbolic connection to their craft tradition.

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2. Wattle Framework

ROOF STRUCTURE

Saplings from Salvadora persica plant will be used to create the structural framework that holds thatch together.

Salvadora persica tree (tooth brush tree)

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Air Gap

3. Tapered Rafters The main structural elements are made of glued laminated wood. The rafters forms the main secondary beam support for the roof. Each rafter is designed differently to correspond with the geometrical shape of the roof and INTERLOCKS with the primary beam at the centre creating a strong T- joint.

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4. Structure The columns and the beam forms the workshops main structural support. The main materials include the glued laminated wood for its rigidity and large spans and light weight structural steel for column support. The main goal is to create large spans with minimum spatial requirements.

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WALLS

Timber BEAM (Primary Support) Light weight steel COLUMN Timber Cladding T-Nut Joinery

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5. The Wall Two types of wall system are used.

The Dry Wall Construction- Made from stacking stones collected from the surrounding area and arranging them in a gabion like structure of steel rod mesh. The wall is tted with a sink to provide water in every crafts station. Ÿ The wall furniture- This is a combination of storage, exhibition and selling function into a wall system while still screening from the desert sun.

FLOOR

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WORKSHOP

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6. The Floor Black volcanic soil is used as the main oor material and rock pebbles for circulation. The soil when wet can be used for evaporative cooling keeping the work space conducive for making crafts and social interactions.

DESIGN STRATEGIES The design of the workshop redenes the outdoor work space that forms the social life for the people of this region. The aim of construction is using the low cost construction approach with use of local materials where possible and the potential of the local community and local available technology.

The workshop design borrows from the nomadic lifestyle where the entire structure can be dis -membered and re-assembled or re-arranged depending on the users liking, as a way of reinterpreting the temporary nature of their built form.