I am on a perpetual pursuit to acquire the knowledge of design that allows the inception of architecture to promote social serenity. I believe that it is a seed that grows beyond the thresholds of a building’s envelope.

Symphorien Gasana

Senior Architect
Kigali, Rwanda

Symphorien Gasana is passionate about designing with care. He believes that everyone deserves design that exhibits love for humanity, celebrates culture, and is embedded in the ecosystem.

As a Senior Architect at MASS Design Group, Gasana leads various aspects of design on projects in education, conservation, public memory, and healthcare. Over his five-year tenure, he has successfully delivered projects such as the African Leadership University (Kigali, Rwanda), the Sok An Memorial Library (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), the Grumeti Fund Research Centre (Serengeti, Tanzania), the Samajik Hospital (Dhaka, Bangladesh), and the National Heroes Mausoleum (Kigali, Rwanda).

Outside of MASS, Gasana lends his time to developing public spaces. He led the design of Imbuga City Walk, the first pedestrian public space designed and built in Rwanda. In 2017, he designed a prototype for sustainable, affordable housing that was awarded Best Construction Project in the Made In Rwanda Expo. He sat on two panels at the 2015 UN-HABITAT Global Public Space Toolkit Launch held in Rome, Italy.

Gasana graduated with honors from the University of Rwanda’s School of Architecture and the Built Environment. His thesis, "City Lungs: From traditional shared spaces to modern public spaces," explores how shared spaces in traditional Rwandan communities can be a blueprint for designing contextual public spaces.

He is affiliated with the Rwanda Institute of Architects and The East African Institute of Architects.