The neighbourhood library is intended to increase schoolchildren's access to books. (In Mali, culture is primarily transmitted through the oral tradition, so the reading habit is not engrained.) The main spaces - library, office, IT room and lecture room - are housed in two separate volumes at the centre of the triangular site. The spaces in between are places for social interaction, shaded by lush mango trees and a large overhanging roof - a 'pleated' double layer of metal sheets supported by thin steel columns. The roof is separated from the cement block walls, so as to improve cross-ventilation and natural wind-flow.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture