Hussein Bakri is the Lebanese architect responsible for the design of the Akon City project in Senegal. We met him in the United Arab Emirates, where he lives. This “citizen of the world” told us about his architectural philosophy.
“I’m surprised by your request”. These are the first words that Hussein Bakri used when we met him in Dubai, the emirate, where he settled more than ten years ago to set up his own consulting firm. In fact, the 46-year-old Lebanese architect is not used to media columns. “This is not what I’m looking for,” modestly entrusts the man chosen by American rapper of Senegalese origin, Aljoner Badara Thiam, Akon said, to design the ultramédiatisé project Akon City.
A megalomaniac project?
What the architect is looking for is rather to leave an imprint, he tells us. With Akon City “I am also happy to be able to design something that contributes to the country’s development” the architect continues. However, the project did not necessarily always have good press. Some actually describe it as megalomaniac. While others blame the sociocultural imbalances that this project may cause. The future city of Akon City will actually be built in a rural area about a hundred kilometers from Dakar.
“Mr. Akon met with the locals to explain to them that this project is first and foremost for them” wants to clarify Hussein Bakri. Additionally, “some did not understand why my client did not choose an architect from the continent. I tell them that architecture is a universal language. You can certainly understand a country’s culture perfectly, but does that mean you want to represent it ideally? ”.
Lake City Diamniadio
Hussein Bakri is also not unknown to the African continent. He, who was educated in the United States, developed his first projects in the English-speaking countries of the continent. Especially in Kenya and Tanzania. It was not until 2017 that he discovered French-speaking Africa and especially Senegal. Although he speaks neither Wolof nor French, he then becomes chief architect of a project as public as Akon City: Diamniadio Lake City. Another future in the city, the construction of which is planned on the outskirts of Dakar. To feed his inspirations, he then visited the country of Teranga. His passage in the Slave House on the island of Gorée seems to have marked him. “I sat next to the One-Way Trip Door for 45 minutes to soak up the place. At that moment, I said to myself, ‘this is where we need to make a difference’ “.
For Hussein Bakri, architecture is therefore a philosophy. “You have to live the architecture. It is neither more nor less than a feeling that is translated into a structure ”. He does not like being reduced to his job. A simple “envelope” he thinks. He describes himself primarily as a “creator” who claims to place people at the heart of his projects. “When I create something, the end result does not interest me so much. On the other hand, I appreciate the process of achieving the identity that I want to give the project, ”he adds.
Wakanda and baobab
The fictional land of Wakandaa has also often been cited as an example of talking about Akon City. “The futuristic aspect of this city really facilitates the comparison,” explains Hussein Bakri, who, however, denies the inspiration. “Akon City is a utopia of nature,” he said, however. The architect was actually inspired by the physical elements that make up the Senegalese nature. Especially the baobab, a symbol that also appears on Senegal’s coat of arms. He was also inspired by the waves that hit the Senegalese coastline and the country’s emblematic animals such as the oryx gazelle. The video, which was sent at the end of the presentation of the project to the press last September, contains all these elements. “We use nature to protect it,” he sums up in a few words.
Akon City
This project is also a way to “give Senegal its own architectural style”. The Lebanese architect also promises, without giving further details, “other projects will come”.
Akon City key figures
– The first development phase, to be completed in 2023, will cover 55 hectares. By the end of this decade, the complex is expected to span 514 acres
– The price of the smart city is estimated at $ 6 billion
– According to Bakri & AssociatesDevelopment (BAD) consultants, the construction of Akon City could directly and indirectly create around 100,000 jobs
.
