Leah Libsekal of AnotherAfrica writes about the Rwanda-based design firm Design Firm George Pericles which are part of the emerging next generation of thinkers and designers working to shape the urban form and future of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda and beyond.
Indeed, with rapid urbanisation the need for innovative ideas rooted in Rwandan culture, traditions and context provides opportunity for practical and locally appropriate solutions in the quest for infrastructure development. Particularly in such a critical moment as this, with the rise in new developments and neighbourhoods in cities such as Kigali that are built with little to no consideration of Rwandan context, George Pericles has raised the critique that these solutions fail to meet the local populace’s everyday needs but will also give rise to more problems in the future. Rather than applying a tabula rasa, they are looking to blend culture and advanced technologies to create a progressive urban fabric importing rural cultural values where applicable.
In their latest project Bumbogo Rwanda : Toponymic Urbanism design office George Pericles have taken up this challenge. They propose an innovative if not ambitious project designed to produce an adaptable future matrix that responds to both economic and cultural factors beginning with Kigali.
According to the george pericle's website "....The Rugo is the traditional Burundi & Rwandan house. New Rugo is a low-cost housing project located in Burundi.
The project questions the relations between domestic spaces and culture. We establish a link between the values of pre-colonial (community, adaptability) and modern typology.
By merging the two typologies, the two structures, we designed a new one, the new rugo. The new rugo is evolutive, allowing changes as Burundi & Rwandan societies evolved.