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Collect, contain, protect and provide water, precious source of life: this is the aim for each Casamance community involved in the Kaira Looro project.The rain season in Casamance region is only three months every year. From July to September they have between 1200 and 1600 mm rainfall, which is one third of the Italian national average. As a consequence, the water resource is vital for them and it is crucial to find a way to store and protect it. Nowadays Casamance population live with only 10 litres per person which is obtained from wells, rainfall and river. Unfortunately, only a small part is drinkable. “Balouo” means life and “Jioo” water: these words are the concept of a “source of life”. The necessity to give a name to the project and to the object is essential in order to make it a strong symbol for the community. This is the result of the fact that the oral tradition is the only way to spread culture in the region. As a working group we decided to give the project a strong significance, because it represents survival today and an optimistic vision of the future. Starting from the tradition that consists of local materials, colours, shapes and technologies, an object that is well integrated in the landscape has been developed. With its visibility it gives character to the area. Furthermore, the new element represents at the same time a symbol and a function which according to the German philosopher Heidegger was the passage from a common place to an urban location. In that natural landscape, being a strong symbol for resistance to drought and capacity of water storage, the baobab has been identified as an element to be inspired by in its dimensions and shape. This was the starting point of the project, an attractor for the community and a promotor for a social development. Considering the economic and social sustainability, the local adobe technology was used. Thanks to the availability the cost of the building materials decrease and the choice of construction methods will help community to build the structures themselves. The cylindrical inner body works as a pipe while the external part functions as a protection from solar radiation. Both are made up by adobe. In this way the space between the walls makes for good ventilation and a reduces the internal temperature which helps reducing the evaporation of the collected water. By using palm wood pillars, which are positioned right next to the inner wall in the early phase of the construction, a rigid structure is obtained. This also works as a ladder for the maintenance of the structure. A funnel-hexagonal-shaped roof functions as a collector of rain with its declivity towards the centre. The cover consists of straw and bamboo interlaced by ropes. This hexagonal shape facilitates the aggregation in different modules (island, theatre, courtyard), even if they are of different heights. Subsequently the shadow under the trees encourages the socialization of the community with different activities (market, prayer etc.). The collecting surface is 60 square meters which means that 75 cubic meters of water may be collected by each unit. Given that each village has 150 inhabitants the communities should be satisfied with 8 Balouo Jiao.
Project by:
Studio Arcò_Carmine Chiarelli
Studio MMA_Michele Marchese
Mariangela Blefari, Alessandra Bruè, Alessandro Caramagno, Agata Consoli, Lorenzo Gili, Ludvig von Hofsten, Enrica Pino, Elisabetta Romano, Rosario Torrisi, Emanuele Tumminia
