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Meroë Royal Baths Protective Shelter

Francis Kéré
Museum
Meroë Royal Baths Protective Shelter
Rendering by Kéré Architecture

Francis Kéré:

“I’m working on a museum in Sudan which is an ancient site — no one exactly knows how old it is, maybe 1000 years. They call it the King Meroë Baths, and we are building the protective shelter around it. We are not far from the Nile, and so we have to construct with mud. We have to dig like three or four meters deep where we found walls from ancient times... It’s been an interesting experience, we really had to pay attention and be careful. These things needed to be studied and to make sure that the structure is serving rather than creating more problems. You always have to see what is the best material and design for the building site itself.”