The Goethe-Institut Dakar was designed to accommodate the prominent baobab at its center.
Photographer: Iwan BaanDesign
In Dakar, a Cultural Center Grows Around a Baobab Tree
Francis Kéré’s design for the Goethe-Institut Dakar draws on the Burkinabé architect’s practice of using sustainable and climate-resilient local materials.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré approached the site of the new Goethe-Institut in Dakar as a place that already held its own structure — formed by trees, shade and the logic of the land itself.
“We had a plot, huge trees and among them a huge baobab in the center,” the Burkina Faso-born architect said, guiding visitors through the newly opened center in advance of its official April 18 opening.