As part of the 1st Forum of the Francophone Emergency Housing Network (RHUF), held at the African School of Architecture and Urbanism (EAMAU) in Lomé, an architectural ideas competition was launched, exclusively for architecture students from the Francophone African region.
This competition aimed to stimulate creative thinking and generate innovative solutions for temporary or transitional housing that respond to the local realities and needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in humanitarian crisis contexts.
Main objectives:
Develop innovative, localized, and sustainable solutions, adapted to the climatic, cultural, social, and economic contexts.
Promote participatory design approaches that support the social and economic integration of IDPs into host communities.
Encourage future architects to engage with humanitarian emergency issues as opportunities for research, design, and commitment.
Key figures:
Over 70 expressions of interest
More than 30 teams registered
15 projects submitted
6 countries represented
7 participating academic institutions
An international jury assessed the submitted projects based on their relevance, contextual sensitivity, technical feasibility, and innovative potential.
🎖 Three winning teams were awarded, thanks to the sponsorship of Dr. Aimé GONZALVES, architect, former president of the Order of Architects of Benin, and former professor at EAMAU.
Winning projects
➡️ 1st prize: SOUS LE CIEL, UN ABRIS (Under the Sky, A Shelter) by DIABATE Vakaba Abdoul Rahim & KOUASSI Alex Junior Kossonou | EAMAU, LOMé (TOGO)
➡️ 2nd prize: SHELTERS OF HOPE by BEYALA MASSOL Princesse Maeva, GUIAHIA TAFOPI Serene Aurélie, MATCHEGNE TAKOUKAM Julienne, OBAMA ESSONO Yann Japy & TOUKEP WANDJI Vennie Precile | ENSTP, YAOUNDE (CAMEROON)
➡️ 3rd prize: UNE VIE AU BOUT DE LA FUITE by SIDIBE Fatoumata, BAGAYOKO Fadjigui & DIAWARA L. Mahamadou | ESIAU, BAMAKO (MALI)
All 15 submissions demonstrated a strong student commitment and a real engagement with the challenge of improving emergency housing.
View the designs by candidates 1 to 4 View the designs by candidates 5 to 9
View the designs by candidates 10 to 12
These works clearly show that the academic and humanitarian worlds have much to gain by collaborating more closely, making humanitarian response a legitimate subject of research and innovation in universities.
