The Berlin-based architecture firm Kéré Architecture has designed a building complex that will form a centre for traditional Ewe culture in Notse, Togo.

The Centre des Cultures et Spiritualités Ewés (CCSE) consists of low, curved buildings. Hand-pressed laterite bricks are used as an important building material. This is a traditional building material that can be produced without complex technologies. The architect Alero Olympio, a granddaughter of Togo's assassinated first president, had already initiated a renaissance in the use of this material and basic principles of ecological construction in her projects in Ghana.

The buildings are being constructed around the historic Agbogbo Wall. This wall provided protection for the town of Notsé and the Agbogbodzi sanctuary, the main deity of the traditional Ewe religion. The city was a centre of the Ewe. There is also an amphitheatre, exhibition halls and the reconstruction of a royal palace.

A spiral-shaped building in the centre of the complex is intended to represent the connection between the deity, the heavens and the ancestors. The entrance to the extensive complex is formed by a gate inspired by the royal stool, a symbol of power.

The CCSE was developed by the Kothor Foundation and, according to its director Kokou Djianou Kothor, aims to "place the light of the past in the hands of the present in order to illuminate the future".

The architect in charge, Francis Kéré from Kéré Archticture, adds: "This centre will offer the Ewe a space where they can express and preserve their identity and celebrate their culture in an inspiring and inclusive way."

The CCSE is due to be completed by February 2026.