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Registrations are now open for the 2024 Kaira Looro Architecture Competition, an international contest organized by humanitarian organization Balouo Salo and aimed at students as well as young architects, designers, and engineers for the creation of a maternity center in sub-Saharan Africa.
The completed facility will provide healthcare for pregnant women in rural southern Senegal, an area where, every year, over 200,000 women lose their lives during pregnancy and childbirth because of a lack of basic medical care. In fact, one in 16 African women risk dying in childbirth due to complications stemming from inadequate sanitary conditions and the absence of healthcare.
The 2024 Kaira Looro Architecture Competition is intended to improve maternal and neonatal healthcare in Africa, providing women with access to a facility that will provide care right through to childbirth. It also aims to discourage traditional homebirths, which involve risks to both mothers and newborns, such as fetal injuries, hemorrhaging, and infections from non-sterilized instruments.
The center must have a maximum floorspace of 350 m2 on a single level and comprise one or more buildings. The total cost of materials can’t exceed 70,000 euros. As in previous years, the building is to be designed so that it can be built with the help of the local community and use local materials, such as clay, cement, wood, and so on. The project must also include a reception and waiting room, a staffroom, consultation rooms, a hospital area, a labor and delivery room, an operating room for caesarean sections, and a nursery.
The projects will be assessed by an international jury made up of leading architects, including Kengo Kuma (KKAA), Benedetta Tagliabue (Benedetta Tagliabue – EMBT Architects), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA, Blengini Ghirardelli), Mario Cucinella (Mario Cucinella Architects), Raul Pantaleo (TAM Associati), Tosin Oshinowo (Oshinowo Studio), Emmanuelle Moureaux (Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture Design), Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani, and Mohamed Amine Siana. They will have the support of a specialist committee composed of Raoul Vecchio (Balouo Salo), Sebastiano D’Urso (University of Catania), and other architecture and humanitarian aid specialists.
The Kaira Looro Architecture Competition is aimed in particular at students and young professionals in the fields of architecture, design, and engineering. Nevertheless, anyone who submits a project that fulfills the competition criteria can take part. Entries can be from individuals or groups, with the only requirement being that at least one member of the group is under 35.
Registrations are open through May 14, 2024, with early registration up to February 29, normal registration up to April 8, and late registration till May 14. Projects must be submitted by June 11, while the results will be announced on July 9. All registration fees will go towards building the winning project.
As well as having their project built, the winner will receive a prize of 5000 euros and the option of an internship with Kengo Kuma Associates design studio in Japan. The second place winner will receive 2000 euros and an internship with Miralles Tagliabue EMBT in Barcelona. The entrant placing third will win 1000 euros and an internship with SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli in Milan.
Two honorable mentions and two special mentions will also be awarded, while the 20 finalists + 20 Top 50 will be announced. All entrants will have their project published on the website and in the official competition book, as well as be featured by media partners on web portals, magazines, and social networks.
Images copyright and courtesy Balouo Salo
