Inside the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library
THE Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library, a collaboration between former president Thabo Mbeki and architect Sir David Adjaye’s firm, Adjaye Associates, promises an exciting new symbol for the African renaissance.
The library promises to be a space of excellence, learning, research, discourse and cultural exchange predicated on the African perspective. “This space presents an opportunity to realise the ambition of the dreams of President Thabo Mbeki to advance and empower an African renaissance,” says Adjaye. “The architecture of the library taps into the collective memory of the continent through the establishment of a new historical centre for African consciousness in which knowledge, education and sustenance are nurtured in the representation and intelligence of the continent.”
The space will fill a multiplicity of functions, including a museum, temporary exhibition space, research centre, auditorium and women’s empowerment centre, among others. Providing infrastructure for the preservation and distribution of African history and knowledge, the library will be a new anchorpoint and campus for scholars.
Conceptually, the new building makes visible the invisible knowledge of ancient and contemporary African history through both form and programme. Sited in Riviera, the library will harbour the knowledge of the land while acting as a space for connection in which the advancement of an African Renaissance becomes the premise of the structure. Represented in design as a metaphor for knowledge-based nourishment, it references the structures of granaries – which allow for the extension of grain production and the systematisation of cycles of feeding, planting and harvesting.
The eight cylindrical granary-styled forms are made contemporary through the topping of domes with apertures that take into consideration the orientation of light within the site to create a distinct atmosphere for each of the programmes within. These chambers, connected through an “indoor den” – a horizontal interstitial space that extends the length of the entire building, provide a new public space in service to the community.
Use of the locally sourced compressed mud in the form of a rammed earth facade, terrazzo flooring made from local stone and timber cladding from indigenous species collectively reduce the overall carbon footprint of the structure, while photo-voltaic solar panels on the rooftop absorb sunlight and generate electricity.
The architecture of the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library brings together continental African thought and form as a powerful means of tapping into collective memory.
“My vision for the new presidential library aims to encompass both an African past and an African future. It will be a place where Africans uncover their own history and identity,” says Mbeki.
“A place where we are empowered to script a brighter and more prosperous future. Through this wonderful collaboration with Sir David Adjaye and his team, I believe this building will become the epicentre for an African renaissance.”