Momentum of Light brings together photographer Iwan Baan and architect Diébédo Francis Kéré to document how sub-Saharan vernacular architecture in Burkina Faso negotiates the extremes of natural light — without electricity, and without compromise.
About This Book
Before artificial light, architecture in Burkina Faso had to perform a precise and demanding act: channel sunlight deep enough to illuminate interior space while shielding inhabitants from relentless heat. The result is a vernacular tradition of minimal openings and near-darkness within — a formal logic born of climate rather than convention. Initiated by lighting technology company Zumtobel Group, this collaboration between Iwan Baan and Francis Kéré documents three sites — communal compounds in Gando, the main mosque of Bobo Dioulasso, and terraced houses in Dano — through photography and architectural sketches. It is essential reading for anyone engaged with climate-responsive design, African architecture, or the relationship between natural light and built form.
Key Features
- 180 pages of large-format architectural photography printed using a specialist technique to reproduce the documented light conditions
- Photographs by Iwan Baan; architectural sketches by Diébédo Francis Kéré
- Notable case studies: communal compounds in Gando, the main mosque of Bobo Dioulasso, and terraced houses in Dano
- Published by Lars Muller Publishers, ISBN: 9783037786864
What You'll Discover
- How sub-Saharan vernacular builders engineered near-total interior darkness as a deliberate thermal and visual strategy
- The way Kéré's own architecture draws on the light environment in which he grew up — traced through his accompanying sketches
- Baan's immersive photographic method, reproduced through a specialist printing technique that approximates the actual quality of light on site
- How three distinct building typologies — communal compound, mosque, and terraced house — each resolve the same climate problem through different spatial means
About the Author
Diébédo Francis Kéré, born in 1965, is an architect whose practice is deeply informed by the vernacular building traditions and light conditions of Burkina Faso, where he grew up. Iwan Baan, born in 1975, is a photographer whose work focuses on architecture and the communities that inhabit it.
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 180
- Dimensions: 240 x 330 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783037786864
- Publisher: Lars Muller Publishers
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and designers working with climate-responsive or low-energy principles; researchers in African vernacular architecture; students of architectural photography and documentation; anyone interested in the interplay of natural light, heat, and built form.