Architects:
5+1AA
Location: Cotonou,
Benin
Project Team: Simonetta Cenci, Ilaria Sisto, Sara Gottardo, Enrico Arrighetti, Emanuela Bartolini, Annalisa Beghelli, Stefania Bracco, Emanuele Mondin, Valeria Parodi, Francesca Recagno, Sara Traverso, Luca Bonazzoli, Massimo Mauro, Matteo Nicotra, Anna Pavoni, Francesca Patti
Project Year: 2008
Photographer: Peia Associati
Architect in Charge: Alfonso Femia, Gianluca Peluffo, Giampiero Peia, Marta Nasazzi, Simonetta Cenci
Area: 54500.0 sqm
Structural Engineering: Stefano Migliaro
Services Engineering: AI Studio, AI Engineering
Art Direction: Giampiero PeiaRenderings: ©5+1AA & Peia Associati
Total Area: 84000
Housing Area; 34.100 m2
Green Area; 44.000 m2
Total Volume: 500000m3
Parks; 180
The main target regarding the LAP residential complex is not only to provide a luxury compound of modern villas with all the full residential services, allowing a sophisticate and environmental way to live in the growing town in a peaceful, tranquil and familiar way. The main issue that substantially stays back the idea of this plan is the reinterpretation of the African identity, reinventing the local and the continental roots in a contemporary elegant style.
The challenge is to demonstrate to the world that also here it is possible to bland and take away the best from the synthesis between invention and tradition, luxury and ecology, globalization and local culture, enjoy life style and respect for human dignity.
Usually the residential compounds are made by an urban grid where the streets and the anonymous and wall fencings of any single plots define the external urban imagine giving a sense of enclosure and protection of the private properties. In this country we cannot avoid this protection requirement. So we invert the target trying to develop a new image for the “walls” taking from the North African and the desert towns the inspiration for this. Place like Gath and Gadamesh in Libya, the oasis town in Morocco drive us to the concept of the urban fabric made by walls.
The wall itself creates the collective image of the architecture, inside the villas take their proper, private identity. We have look for a linked solution to match this private and public world. The wall follow the streets and boulevards or we can say that the streets are made by the continuous wall that adapt itself to the presence of the Houses, hosting just the opening and some abstract images of “towers” that underline the entrance door. If the wall shape is instable and not linear the brass and cedar wood doors and gates, the red and okra colour of the wall itself and some applied ceramic tiles or small opening, as random fragments are the only decorative system clearly related to the mood tradition.
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