SAMUEL PELLISSIER
UNIVERSITY OF FREE STATE
Lamu: An Architectural Investigation
of Time and Place
Samuel says, “While touring eastern Africa
on a bicycle in early 2017, we came across an
ancient Swahili port city called Lamu. This World
Heritage site resonates with the rhythms of time
and the rich culture of its people identifies the
place. This determined the cornerstones of this
thesis as Time and Place. As an outsider, I became
a student of the ways of Lamu, the religion, the
lifestyle and the culture, with specific interest
in the traditional methods of Dhow-building and
donkey transportation. The aim was to design an
architectural response that accommodates these
methods, while respecting the cultural heritage.
The remote location of Lamu provided practical
challenges which were resolved by using building
techniques and materials known to the island in
a newly imagined way that aims to inspire, rather
than prescribe. The project aspired to portray
something similar to Breyten Breytenbach’s
theory of the ‘Middle world’, an in-between place
that accommodates the dweller where he might
find himself between land and see. The designed
building consists of dry-docks for Dhow repairs and
building, a workshop for finer crafts such as sail
making and furniture weaving, and a sanctuary for
donkeys to be looked after. So this thesis became a
place where the dweller, the Dhow and the donkey
can come to find repairs and sanctuary.
Student Awards
75