The Documentary Podcast Mariam Issoufou: Designing a museum
Mar 16, 2026
Mariam Issoufou, an architect who adapts West African earth-building traditions for contemporary projects, discusses designing the Bet B museum in Tambacounda. She talks about patience in architecture, rooting design in local craft and soil, burying galleries for climate control, rethinking displays as communal, and using earth bricks and public plazas to invite curiosity.
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Use Local Materials To Elevate Craft
- Work with local builders and materials to elevate them rather than hide them.
- Using earth, bamboo and traditional techniques, Mariam transforms perceived 'inferior' materials into sustainable, beautiful architecture.
Bet B Rooted In Local Earth And History
- The Bet B museum will be built from soil excavated on site and its form references the Mali Empire and Timbuktu's monumental earth architecture.
- Collection will include contemporary Ghanaian paintings, Egyptian masks, Congolese headdresses and Senegalese tapestries.
Three Site Setbacks Before Final Land Purchase
- The project repeatedly stalled because landowners reneged, forcing Mariam's team to restart site searches twice.
- After three candidate sites, the team finally found a confirmed final site, restoring momentum and relief.