Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, has inaugurated a mausoleum to honor Thomas Sankara, a pan-Africanist revolutionary and former president of Burkina Faso, along with twelve of his aides.

Berlin-based architecture practice Kere Architecture has created a mausoleum wrapped in triangular-shaped brick louvres, made from thirteen columns. 

Sankara served as president from 1983 until his assassination at the age of 37 during a coup on October 15, 1987, which also resulted in the deaths of twelve officials. During his leadership, Sankara championed women's rights, initiated environmental campaigns, pursued economic independence, and left a lasting legacy of national reforms.

The former president and his twelve closest friends are buried in the Thomas Sankara Mausoleum. The thirteen graves, each beneath a single skylight, are grouped concentrically from the building's center, drawing inspiration from the sun's passage. 

The sun overhead illuminates a new tomb every hour, guiding the visitor across the chamber and into a fresh area of recollection.

A moving reminder of the void left in the lives of their families, thirteen columns create thirteen open spaces that symbolically represent the absence of individuals who were killed. Outside, a colorful and meandering pavilion leads guests from Boulevard Thomas Sankara to the building's entrance.

The tomb is protected by a massive 34-meter dome, which also shields the area from the sun's tremendous heat. Two sizable gates that mark the mausoleum's entry are louvred open to provide passive ventilation, keeping the building cool thanks to its substantial thermal mass. The gates are oriented to capture the predominant east-west breezes.

Sankara's dedication to employing earth construction in Burkina Faso is continued by the mausoleum's use of locally sourced laterite and clay bricks. 

The clay used for the site was sourced by local populations, starting a building system that extended well beyond Ouagadougou and throughout Burkina Faso.

"This is the first time I have been asked to take on the responsibility of constructing a building in memory of a great figure. Given that Sankara was killed there, the site remained a place of fear for a long time. It has now been transformed into a space of encounter and recreation, that fosters remembrance, respect, and hope," said Francis Kéré. 

"Thomas Sankara played a crucial role in shaping Burkina Faso—even giving our country its name—and his pan-Africanist ideas resonate more deeply today than ever before." 

"Meeting him was a pivotal moment in my early life, and I think many people in Burkina Faso feel a strong connection to Thomas Sankara and his work. The mausoleum will be a space that belongs to the people, presenting an important historic site as a symbol of progress, change, and hope for all," Kéré added.

This mausoleum's completion completes the first phase of a bigger memorial project: the Thomas Sankara Memorial Park, which was planned by Kéré Architect and started by the Comité International pour le Mémorial Thomas Sankara. 

The project was funded by the Burkina Faso government.

The 14-hectare Thomas Sankara Memorial Park would have conference and educational facilities, shops, restaurants, and an amphitheater. Above the location where Sankara and his companions were slain, a tower will rise in addition to the mausoleum, which acts as its ceremonial core.

As a symbolic nod to the year of the killing, the tower will be 100 meters tall with an accessible terrace at 87 meters. Generations are invited to visit the platform and share in Thomas Sankara's ambition.

The Ouagadougou Green Belt development plan includes the Thomas Sankara Memorial Park, which will celebrate Sankara's environmental heritage while establishing new structures inside a park to provide crucial green space for the parched capital city.

Kéré Architecture also unveiled the design for a place of worship and cultural center in the town of Notsè, Togo. This project represents the studio’s first project in Togo. 

In addition, a new childcare center at Munich’s Technical University is under construction in Germany, designed by Kéré Architecture. Other projects by Kéré Architecture currently underway in West Africa are the Benin National Assembly and the Goethe Institute in Dakar.

Project facts

Project name: Thomas Sankara Mausoleum

Architects: Kéré Architecture

Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Size: 450m2

Design Team: Leonne Vögelin, Andrea Maretto, Nabil Haque, Brice Ouédraogo, Aarif Kouanda

Contributors: Nataniel Sawadogo, Rasmané Zongo, Jean Sawadogo, Lucien Tondé, Toussaint Kaboré, Anicet Bagré, Arnaud Batiana, Kinan Deeb

Collaborators: Prestige Multi Services SARL e t Sous-Traitants

Client: Ministère de la Communication, de l a Culture, des Arts et du Tourisme (MCCAT/PCIM-INTS) Burkina Faso

All images courtesy of Kere Architecture.

> via Kere Architecture

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