Central Market

Koudougou, Burkina Faso

Recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007.

Koudougou's central market combines a covered hall with space for 624 stalls with a further 125 buildings containing 1'195 shop units, the vast majority of them small spaces of only 6.20 square metres. By virtue of its size, the project provided an important training ground for local masons. The market buildings are made almost exclusively of a local material - compressed earth blocks - using traditional Nubian techniques of arch and vault construction. Such self-sufficiency was deemed particularly desirable in light of the increasing costs of imported materials.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture