Designed by Patrick Dujarric; completed in 1994 Kaolack, Senegal With his project for a new French cultural center in rural Senegal, architectanthropologist Patrick Dujarric gave a new twist to an indigenous architectural style. The Alliance FrancoSénégalaise that he completed in 1994 in Kaolack, links a vernacular tradition to a new decorative program. Kaolack is a rural city, with a population of approximately 150,000, that lies 160 kilometers southeast of Dakar in west-central Senegal on the right bank of the Saloum River. French cultural centers in West Africa ostensibly act to promote and disseminate French culture and language, but they are also important venues for showing African art forms, from films to paintings. With its reinvention of local architectural traditions, the Alliance Franco-Sénégalaise makes clear that this building does not simply house an institution affiliated with the French government but is also a local community center. Senegal is a former French colony, ...