The Aegis Trust has commissioned the practice to develop a major new centre in Bugesera intended as a hub for peacebuilding and remembrance
The Aegis Trust has appointed Adjaye Associates to design the Isōko Centre for Humanity, a new project in Bugesera, Rwanda, that seeks to promote memory, education and reconciliation.
The centre is intended to serve as an international base for peacebuilding and atrocity prevention.
The Aegis Trust is a British non-governmental organisation founded in 2000 by brothers James and Stephen Smith as an extension of their work establishing the National Holocaust Centre and Museum (formerly Beth Shalom) in 1995. The Kosovo crisis of 1999 prompted the creation of Aegis.
The trust campaigns to prevent genocide and mass atrocities worldwide and operates the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Its work focuses on three main areas: education, protection and survivor support, aiming to build understanding of how prejudice and discrimination can lead to violence, and how inclusive societies can be rebuilt after conflict.
In her keynote speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York last month, for US secretary of state Hillary Clinton described the Isōko Centre for Humanity as “training thousands of peace leaders to push back against lies and hate, to preserve truth and prevent violence.”
Sir David Adjaye said: “We are honoured to contribute to the vision of the Aegis Trust and the people of Rwanda. The Isōko Centre will be a space where the lessons of the past inspire collective healing and a more peaceful future.”
Freddy Mutanguha, chief executive of the Aegis Trust, said: “We are deeply grateful to Sir David Adjaye and his team for giving architectural form to the Aegis Trust’s vision for the Isōko Centre for Humanity. Rooted in Rwanda’s journey from genocide to reconciliation, it will be a place of renewal where survivors, peace builders, and leaders come together to prevent future atrocities.”
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