Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who designed the main stadium for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, will design a vocational school in Ghana without charge. A 1978 trip to West Africa for inspiring his design philosophy. He hopes to help the continent with this project.
Inspiration from West Africa
Kuma’s trip to West Africa as a graduate student was a defining experience that inspired him. The basic elements of his designs, such as soil, trees, and grass, were inspired by the trip. At the time, he was questioning the type of architect he wanted to be. The Africa trip was a quest for answers as Japan’s high economic growth period had ended, and people began to look for something beyond just concrete and steel.
The Ghana Vocational Training Institute
Kuma has teamed up with the nonprofit organization SDGs Promise Japan to build the Ghana Vocational Training Institute in the town of Manso Nkwanta, in Ghana’s Ashanti region. The facility will include classrooms and dormitories set amidst lush green trees. The aim of the project is to offer local citizens a path to proper employment, as opposed to participating in illegal gold mining, which is becoming more prevalent in the region. The first classrooms will be ready by this summer, and the rest will be built as funding becomes available.
The estimated cost of the project is around $6 million, which will be covered by the Japanese government’s aid program and crowdfunding. The school will offer vocational training in stonemasonry, plumbing, and carpentry over a three-year program for students between 18 and 35 years old. Kuma’s design includes ample use of wood, and corridors with outsized roofs will shield students from the punishing sun and heavy rain, creating shade to cool the air flowing into the building. Dormitory rooms will be organized in a zigzag fashion, creating space between them where students can study or socialize. The design of the school is such that the ventilated rooms are not dependent on air conditioning.
Kuma hopes that the school will offer local citizens a better future and contribute to deeper relations between Japan and Ghana.
