The Future of the House of Prayer: Modern and Contemporary African Architecture
The Islamic tradition has long found itself embedded into the fabric of West African society. From as early as the 10th century, it has framed the choreography of daily life on the scale of the individual and extended itself to structure West African communities at a societal level. Yet in the myriad of discourses centered around the Muslim world, the rich and profound cultural legacies and contributions of West Africans are rarely centered or examined. This extends to the realm of Islamic architecture, and the built output and physical manifestations erected in the name of faith and worship by West Africans; a group that constitutes one of the largest percentages of worshipers globally in the faith. The rich and diverse vernacular catalog of spiritually engaged architectural form, fashioned with a unique aesthetic sensibility; is simultaneously emblematic of the devotion and creative ingenuity of its fashioners and reflective of their unique positioning within the legacy of contr...
