In 2014, rebels burned down the former National Assembly building in Ouagadougou as a symbol of the “old regime”. The development of the new project, as expected, was entrusted to the most famous architect of Burkina Faso, the author of numerous social and at the same time environmentally friendly buildings, Diebedo Francis Kere.
He proposed to erect a new building next to the ruins of the previous one - in the place of which a memorial park dedicated to the victims of the revolution should be erected. The project is based on national traditions: in almost completely rural Burkina Faso, decisions are made by a council of elders under a shady tree, in the presence of everyone (Kere knows this procedure very well, since he himself was born into the family of a leader in an ordinary village).
Therefore, in the center of the complex there will be a courtyard for the deputies, where they can discuss new laws in an informal setting. A meeting room for 127 people's deputies is also, of course, provided. The openness of the Parliament will symbolize the façade designed as an amphitheater, which will become a public space and an important observation point for the flat landscape of Ouagadougou - from where, according to Kere, new perspectives will open up for citizens, literally and figuratively.
Parliament will also receive green terraces to demonstrate the latest agricultural technologies, which will serve to disseminate them in a country where almost the entire population is employed in this area.
Natural ventilation will be arranged in the building thanks to the permeable (and protecting the interior from the sun) facade and central atrium.
