{"id":11488,"date":"2025-11-20T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/amelie-essesse-the-voice-of-eco-responsible-architecture-and-identity-in-africa\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T21:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:20:08","slug":"amelie-essesse-the-voice-of-eco-responsible-architecture-and-identity-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/amelie-essesse-the-voice-of-eco-responsible-architecture-and-identity-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Am\u00e9lie Essesse, the voice of eco-responsible architecture and identity in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Am\u00e9lie Essesse&#8217;s career is that of an architect driven by a dual passion: technical rigor and social commitment. Trained in civil and building engineering, a graduate of the La Villette school of architecture and specialized in international cooperation and development, she has focused her practice on the African continent, with the conviction that architecture is a lever for transformation. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11481\" src=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-4.jpg\" alt=\"  Burkina-Faso.Workshop.Etudi ... Tiebele\u00a9 Amelie.Essesse\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-4.jpg 819w, https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-4-480x600.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 819px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Earth as a material of the future<\/h4>\n<p>At the heart of Am\u00e9lie Essesse&#8217;s philosophy is the defense of local materials and know-how. She actively promotes the use of earth in construction, a material with exceptional thermal properties, perfectly suited to African climates, and with a minimal carbon footprint. <\/p>\n<p>His nickname in Burkina Faso, <em>Kathi Roux<\/em>, testifies to the communities&#8217; recognition of his work. It symbolizes an approach that values ancestral techniques while adapting them to modern requirements. For Am\u00e9lie Essesse, building with the earth means choosing a habitat that <strong>respects human beings and their environment<\/strong>, and laying the foundations for material independence from costly, polluting imports.  <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11473\" src=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-5.jpg\" alt=\"Cameroon.Habitat-Mousgoum 2\u00a9Amelie.Essesse\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-5.jpg 819w, https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-5-480x600.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 819px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Architecture at the service of African soft power<\/h4>\n<p>In this interview, Am\u00e9lie Essesse stresses the importance of architecture, along with music, cinema and fashion, in building African <em>soft power<\/em>. This term refers to the continent&#8217;s ability to exert a positive and attractive influence on the world stage through its culture and values. <\/p>\n<p>By proposing <strong>new creative ambitions<\/strong> in architecture, it plays an active part in this movement. Its aim is to enhance the richness and diversity of local cultures. It rejects the generic term &#8220;African&#8221; to insist on the need for a detailed knowledge of the <strong>local and the Glolocal<\/strong>, recognizing the existence of a multitude of identities and know-how specific to each country and ethnic group.  <\/p>\n<p>It encourages players in the real estate and construction sectors in Africa to <strong>ask<\/strong> themselves <strong>questions about their projects<\/strong>: do they make the most of Africa&#8217;s heritage? Do they integrate local know-how? The stakes are high: proposing housing that is not only functional, but also tells the story of the place and confers dignity on its inhabitants.  <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11477\" src=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-5.jpg\" alt=\"Burkina-Faso.Tiebele-7\u00a9Amelie.Essesse\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-5.jpg 819w, https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-5-480x600.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 819px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Committed architecture<\/h4>\n<p>Am\u00e9lie Essesse&#8217;s path, from her studies in art and architecture to her expertise in international development, has enabled her to develop a holistic approach. She has not only learned to design structures, but also to understand the dynamics of cooperation and sustainable development. <\/p>\n<p>Her work goes beyond the drawing board. She actively participates in initiatives such as the Gala de la Maison de l&#8217;Afrique, to discuss and promote the urgency of an architecture that no longer compromises between aesthetics, tradition and ecology. Am\u00e9lie Essesse is a pillar of the African constructive renaissance, inviting us to <strong>value local heritage and know-how<\/strong> as the foundation of sustainable prosperity.  <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Read also<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/afrominimalism-according-to-tosin-oshinowo\/\">Afrominimalism according to Tosin Oshinowo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/akaa-celebrates-its-10th-anniversary-at-carreau-du-temple\/\">AKAA celebrates its 10th anniversary at Carreau du Temple<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Am\u00e9lie Essesse specializes in heritage conservation and management, and has chosen earth as her preferred material. Her approach goes beyond bricks: it&#8217;s a plea for housing that respects the environment, valorizes local know-how and is part of the great dynamic of African soft power. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news","category-podcast-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11493,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11488\/revisions\/11493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}