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A female architect in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast in West Africa, Melissa Kacoutie, is changing Abidjan’s architectural landscape, one sketch at a time.
Kacoutie, an architect with 16 years of experience, alongside her team at her firm, Jeanette Studios, offers a more sustainable approach to architecture with her signature minimalist concepts, marked by clean lines, open floor plans and natural materials.
“To create unique and meaningful spaces, it is important to understand the client, to have a clear idea of who the client is, their expectations, and everything related to local art, as well as elements brought from elsewhere into the project are drawn from the imagination that I build around the project,” she said.
She is among just 77 women architects out of the country’s 320 officially registered professionals, underscoring the male dominance in the field.
Her passion for architecture is traced to her childhood. She graduated with a Master’s degree from the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris in 2011 and then worked in Europe after graduation.
She returned to Abidjan and began working at Koffi and Diabate Architects. She said that working at the firm marked a turning point in her career. But in 2017, Kacoutie decided it was time she set up her firm.
Kacoutie established her firm in her apartment before setting up the studio in Abidjan’s affluent Cocody district. She is not only redefining the architectural landscape in her homeland, but also training the next generation of architects in the West African country. She opens the doors of Jeanette Studio to five to six interns every year, adding that she finds inspiration from viewing images and attending exhibitions.
“Beyond the desires of clients, it is important to nourish one’s mind. I look at many images, I try to attend exhibitions, and I observe what others are doing in terms of art. I try to draw inspiration from these influences in my own projects. Exchanges with others are what mainly nourish the creativity behind our designs,” said Kacoutie.
“We work through what can be described as urban acupuncture. Our small interventions are meant to influence the surrounding neighborhood. The impacts may not be very large, but through our footprint we manage to radiate and influence the areas around us.”
Kouadio Aya, an architect who interned at Kacoutie’s firm for three years, now heads an architectural firm called Archicrea, where she, too, specialises in minimalism, like Kacoutie.
“My time at Jeannette studio shaped my vision of minimalist architecture. I learned that every project can tell a story through details and atmospheres. Today, I am also able to propose minimalist concepts and inspire clients through the spaces and atmospheres I create,” said Aya.
