André Ravéreau, lezioni a confronto. Oltre i confini del M'Zab = André Ravéreau, Lessons in Comparison. Beyond the Borders of M´Zab

The word “lesson” can offer a particular angle through which to observe and rediscover the work of André Ravéreau (Limoges 1919-Aubenas 2017), a French architect, mainly based in Africa: he worked for about twenty years in Algeria, where he held important positions – from 1965 to 1973 he was Architecte en chef des monuments historiques d’Algérie (Architect in charge of the superintendence for the architectural and historical heritage of Algeria) – then in sub-Saharan Africa; in 1980 he received the Aga Khan prize for the Mopti Health Centre. Still a not well studied figure, Ravéreau follows a trajectory that will lead him towards another modernity, although the different lessons he uses to arrive to his personal synthesis can be contextualized within a precise cultural milieu. This paper intends to highlight, on the one hand, the lesson, or rather the architectural lessons Ravéreau learnt during his life, and on the other hand, the lesson the architect leaves through his writings and the design projects.