Maternity and Pediatric hospital in Tambacounda, Senegal, opens in May 2021
In May 2021 the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Le Korsa will unveil the new and redesigned Maternity and Pediatric units at Tambacounda Hospital in Tambacounda, Senegal, a transformative expansion designed pro bono by acclaimed architect Manuel Herz.
In May 2021 the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Le Korsa will unveil the new and redesigned Maternity and Pediatric units at Tambacounda Hospital in Tambacounda, Senegal, a transformative expansion designed pro bono by acclaimed architect Manuel Herz.
The Tambacounda Maternity and Pediatric redesign builds upon 15 years of extraordinary work in rural eastern Senegal by the Albers Foundation and Le Korsa. Echoing Josef and Anni Alberses' shared ethos and belief in the use of "minimal means for maximum effect," this project goes far beyond a single architectural structure, embedding itself within the local community, economy and landscape. It was in this spirit that in 2005 Nicholas Fox Weber, the Director of the Foundation, established Le Korsa to encompass the philanthropic initiatives of the Foundation in the region.
In the field of health, Tambacounda Hospital—the only major hospital in the region—is a vital resource servicing around 20,000 patients per year from the surrounding area, stretching across the border into Mali. The doctors had previously been working under extremely difficult conditions, with the original design leaving the communal spaces severely overcrowded. The design of the new Maternity and Pediatric units brings a sense of coherence and greatly improves the comfort of patients and their visiting families. Herz's structure comprises a two-story building in a curvilinear form which brings two clinics—pediatrics and maternity—together under the same roof and offers approximately 150 hospital beds. The extensive length of the building allows for the smooth circulation of staff and patients and accommodates multiple communal spaces both between the rooms and in the courtyards formed by the bends of the S-curve, turning it into the truly social spine of the hospital.
Herz has collaborated at all stages with local leader and builder Dr. Magueye Ba and depended upon the expertise of the community, working almost exclusively with craftsmen and engineers from Tambacounda and the surrounding villages, and thereby helping to provide employment and support for the rural economy. Following the completion of the Maternity and Pediatric units, Herz will build staff quarters to help attract more doctors from the city, in a design inspired by a print by Anni Albers.
At the Venice Biennale of Architecture in May 2021 Manuel Herz will present "The Many Lives of Tambacounda," an installation exploring the multiple narratives and lives that the Tambacounda hospital is embedded within.
For more information and to donate, please visit Le Korsa at aflk.org. You can also read more about the project at Dezeen, ArtNews, The Art Newspaper, and Financial Times.