Architectural Thesis · Southern Senegal · 2026
Shortlisted — UnIADA ’26 | International Architecture Dissertation Awards

RECONNECTING HERITAGE, CLIMATE & COMMUNITY

In Southern Senegal, architecture is not merely a response to climate — it is a reflection of how communities live, gather and adapt to their environment.

This research investigates the relationship between vernacular heritage, ecological intelligence and community life, asking how traditional spatial principles can be reinterpreted to create contemporary architecture without losing its cultural identity.

Rather than treating vernacular architecture as an aesthetic reference, the project explores it as a living environmental system — one that encodes knowledge of shade, airflow, thermal mass, materiality and social interaction.

The research translates these principles into a contemporary architectural framework where heritage becomes performance, ecology becomes spatial experience, and architecture becomes a catalyst for community.