More than Just Face Value: Relationships of Facade and Ground Plan to the Religious Form

The ways in which we interact with and connect to architecture are manifold. Our first point of contact with any example of architecture is often visual; through the interface with the building facade. The façade, either hinting at what lies in its interior or communicating something entirely different, indeed is the first establisher of presence by a built form. Then follows the ground floor. This is the touchstone for all experiential interaction within architecture. It is the connector between the building to the greater context it is situated in, and the first point of contact and reception for the user within the building itself. The relationship between these two is time and time and time again used to convey transcendental sentiments of the time and society it is erected in. 

One precedent that exemplifies this can be seen in the architecture of the Hausa in modern-day Northern Nigeria. Looking specifically towards the religious edifices erected by this community, we can see the role that built form has in communicating the ethereal. As Aradeon discusses in her paper, “Maximizing Mud: Lofty Reinforced-Mud Domes Built with the assistance of Supernatural Powers in Hausaland,” (1991) we understand that from conception to execution this architecture is forged with greater intentionality to communicate that which is sublime and cherished to the spiritual lives of Hausa society. 

Exterior of Zaria Mosque

The Zaria Mosque’s exterior hints at its domed interior by revealing a series of domes peeking out of the flattened roof. The earthen façade dawns many of the quintessential signifiers of Hausa architecture, with horned pinnacles known as zankwaye extending out of the flattened roof and indororo or roof eaves/downspouts jutting from the façade. These aesthetic traditions, albeit ornamental and adornments to the built structure communicate a regal grandeur and established presence to the form, and also function practically to the rain shed of the building. The façade is also dotted with small apertures to let in light to the building interior.   

Axonometric Drawing of Zaria Mosque

Plan, Elevations, and Sections of Zaria Mosque

The ground floor plan is predicated on six domed bays, built in the 1830s, which rest on sixteen piers and various interlaced archways and ribbed vaulting that spans over 1500 square meters. The mosque’s perimeter wall is dotted with on each cardinal point with an ablution chamber, for worshipers to cleanse themselves before they enter the complex. Through the entrance of the mosque’s perimeter wall, lies the sharia court, the meeting place of high religious officials in the community, with an adjacent screened-off area for women to enter the complex. The main prayer hall itself is broken up by the ornate and intricately decorated piers of the domes and is oriented toward the Holy city of Mecca, indicated by the Mihrab wall.

 Interior of Zaria Friday Mosque

References

Susan B. Aradeon, “Maximizing Mud: Lofty Reinforced-Mud Domes Built with the assistance of Supernatural Powers in Hausaland,” Paideuma, Bd. 37 (1991), pp. 205-221.

Samuel, Isaac (2022) Hausa urban architecture: Construction and design in a cosmopolitan african society, Hausa urban architecture: construction and design in a cosmopolitan African society. African History Extra. Available at: https://isaacsamuel.substack.com/p/hausa-urban-architecture-construction (Accessed: October 23, 2022).