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 contributions to the Islamic architectural tradition. 

Form, material, scale; response to climate, light, and touch; motif and ornament; these are the letters of the language that West African communities used to concretize spiritual expression and house the transcendental elements of worship into their built environment in the most tangible of ways. 

The objective of my paper is to pinpoint specific elements of the built tradition of vernacular mosque architecture in West African Muslim communities. It will look towards specific examples of vernacular mosque architecture within West African communities in order to parse through their distinct aesthetic traditions that led to the production of mosque architecture imbued with a cultural identity that is uniquely their own. The paper seeks to discuss this model of vernacular mosque architecture’s evolution through to present times and the lost resonances of this unique built tradition looking forward.

Exterior view of Hikma Religous and Secular Complex

A contemporary Mosque architecture that directly engages and addresses the questions of identity and Islamic form within the context of West Africa is the Hikma Religious and Secular complex in Dandaji, Niger. The architects of the religious complex, Atelier Masomi and Studio Chahar, took on this challenge of identity through an adaptive reuse approach wherein they transformed a derelict adobe mosque and its grounds into a religious complex dedicated to the spirit of Islamic scholarship.

Dome Construction takes cues from the original Hausa structure 

Site Plan

                                          

By restoring the old mosque to its previous glory, renovating its interior to accommodate the function of a public library, and creating a newer and larger contemporary mosque that draws on the old Hausa aesthetic built traditions; the architects create a dialogue between built traditions that are entirely unique. Through materiality and the reinterpretation of vernacular form, this project exemplifies a viable way forward in the realm of Islamic architecture within the context of West Africa, one that is true to the identity and cultural legacies set up by the society it is situated in and reads as a continuity rather than a deviation. 

Interior View

References

Tapia, D. (2019) Hikma - a religious and secular complex / atelier masōmī + studio chahar, ArchDaily. ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/920427/hikma-a-religious-and-secular-complex-atelier-masomi-plus-studio-chahar (Accessed: November 20, 2022).

Matsipa, M. (2020) Customs made: Hikma religious and secular complex in Dandaji, Niger by atelier Masōmī, Architectural Review. Available at: https://www.architectural-review.com/awards/w-awards/customs-made-hikma-religious-and-secular-complex-in-dandaji-niger-by-atelier-masomi (Accessed: November 20, 2022).