Aging in Africa sets out to be the first age-valued community on the African continent where the elderly can maintain a meaningful and healthy lifestyle in a comfortable, familiar, and safe environment.

Designed by HWKN Architects, the architecture responds to the needs of the elderly, but also embodies a strong tie to the land, to community and to place. The designers explain that the project “is shaped by deploying a holistic set of social, economic and environmentally sustainable theories pertaining to elder living and care. It is about architecture that does not just house caring, it is architecture as the caring device. Our hope is that it is an inspiration for a new breed of community that values the efficacy of spirit over efficiency of care.”

The project, set on a sliver of land between the Atlantic and an inland lagoon, is organized like a typical Cote D’Ivoire village. A central spine runs North/South from existing streets and gaps along the perimeter let the natural vegetation grow into the village and capitalize on the  views towards the water.

Single story residential buildings radiate off of the village’s central spine. The structures’ green roofs submerge into the natural landscape, creating a seamless connection between the built and the natural world.  The project’s public buildings run along the spine to reinforce their communal function. The building’s basic forms tilt and fold in relationship to each other, tying the community together The peaks of the church mirror the mountains and employ a simple geometry that speaks of a sacred space.