By Francis Kéré and Iwan Baan

Across the African continent, but especially in the sub-Saharan regions the light provided by the sun has a particularly stark quality, which becomes most apparent in relation to age-old buildings and in the way in which it shapes daily routines. Without relying on artificial light, architecture had to both make use of the sun light to create a light source within a building, yet also protect those living in the houses from the intensity of it. This has resulted in vernacular architecture that works with very few or small openings that render the inside of a building near pitch black while the outside is illuminated by direct sunshine that bears down mercilessly.