Author Description

This book explore the fourth edition of the Kaira Looro international architecture competition for an Emergency Operations Centre in Sub-Saharian Africa. This is a Non Profit competition with the aim of raising awareness among the international community about emergencies in developing countries, and support humanitarian projects in Africa. The architecture is intended to house and facilitate the mainly activities which international organisations and local authorities must implement in order to solve emergencies and provide aid to affected communities. The spaces should be versatile and multifunctional, capable of adapting to specific needs and to the type and context of the emergency.1st prize, 2nd prize, 3rd prize, two honourable mentions, five special mentions, tweenty finalists and 20 projects among the top 50 are collected in this book. The winners were chosen by an international jury made up of Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates, Japan), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli, Italy), Lígia Nunes (Architecture Sans Frontières International, Spain), Mphethi Morojele (MMA Design Studio, South Africa), Walter Baricchi (CNAPPC), Philippa Nyakato Tumubweinee (University of Cape Town, South Africa), Mantey Jectey-Nyarko (Kwame Nkrumah University, Ghana), and a scientific committee made up of Raoul Vecchio (Balouo Salo), Sebastiano D’Urso (University of Catania) and Moussa Soaune (Senegalese institution).The book also includes an introduction by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and contributions by Agostino Ghirardelli, Mpheti Morojele, Walter Baricchi, Philippa Nyakato Tumubweinee, Mantey Jectey-Nyarko and Sebastiano D’Urso.All proceeds from the competition and from the sale of this book have been donated to the Non-profit Organization Balouo Salo to support humanitarian projects in Africa.