In Senegal, the last of Dakar's 'bubble homes' at risk | International

DAKAR, Sept 19, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Marieme Ndiaye emerged from her igloo-shaped home in Senegal's capital, its 1950s space-age aesthetic in sharp contrast with the boxy, multi-storey apartments being built nearby. The little concrete house is a head-turner, seemingly better suited for a sci-fi movie than the average Dakar residential block where it is located. In the 1950s, around 1,200 of the tidy little homes were built in several neighbourhoods across Dakar to alleviate a post-World War II housing crunch. The dwellings were made by inflating a giant balloon and spraying it with a concrete solution called gunite, before then deflating the balloon. Row after row of the light-coloured domes, which could be constructed in just 48 hours, quickly sprung...