In the second part of our Sub-Saharan Africa Architectural Guide series, the editors of the guide pick their highlights from Cabo Verde, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, The Gambia, Senegal and Niger.
With contributions from nearly 350 authors, the Sub-Saharan Africa Architectural Guide aims to be a comprehensive guide to architecture in the southern part of the continent.

The second volume of the seven-volume publication is named Western Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sahel and focuses on the architecture of Cabo Verde, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, The Gambia, Senegal and Niger.
Read on for the book's editors, Philipp Meuser and Adil Dalbai's, picks from the region:

Photo by Fernando Guerra
Cape Verde

Fogo Natural Park Headquarters, Fogo Island by OTO Arquitectos The Fogo Natural Park project arose from the need to consolidate the protected area around the foot of the volcano Pico de Fogo.
OTO Arquitectos' adopted design strategy was to integrate the building within the volcanic landscape in an open dialogue with local materials and plants.
The use of dark materials ties the building to the landscape of lava, and the incorporation of ramps connects it to the ground and cover, merging exterior and interior spaces and creating a continuity of dark surfaces and shapes. The project won the National Prize of Architecture in 2013, but only seven months after it was built, the volcano erupted, burying it in lava.

Photo by Philipp Meuser
Burkina Faso

Centre d...