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This proposed sacred archtiecture aims to fit harmonically on the site context in Tanaf Village. The local culture, materials, climatic conditions and the emerging needs were respected and fundamentally importante on the development of this design proposal. In that sense, the main design idea is to bring to its users awareness that in a single country, city or even a small village, as Tanaf, there are may different beliefs from diferente people; uniting religions isn’t our claim, but it is simply allowing the free of cult for those. The “unity” concept adopted in this design is based at the four elements of nature: earth, water, fire and air. In this sense, we seek to create the connection of these elements so that each individual, with its own personality, experience and spirituality, absorbs, in a particular way, the energies coming from these elements. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, explains about the four psychic functions and relates each of those with one astrological element: earth with sensation through experimentation; water’s related with feeling and stimulates the emotions; Air’s to thought and understanding of theories; fire stimulates the intuition and the present valorization of the philosophical, spiritual or moral teachings. Each of these elements is present in the religious worship of the different ethnic groups of Tanaf Valley, for example, fire is considered sacred in most religions and almost all of their rituals are performed in the presence of this element. The tree, on the center, represents the life cycle on earth. Its roots seek in the soil its fortification, for full growth. The trunk, when gaining rigidity, seeks balance through the branches. With the changes of seasons, nature - the tree - also changes, transforms and adapts to the environment in which it is inserted, translating, in this single element, the whole spirit of our project.
We believe that Tanaff can find its way to peace and prosperity through sustainability and equal rights while preserving culture and practicing religion. Designing constructions targeted at improving human relations can contribute to building that path. Tanaff will be teaching future generations not only to respect people’s differences and the environment, but also to embrace these tenets into their lives. The design proposed herein aims to create a sacred place of spirituality, where everyone is welcome, regardless of their beliefs. It revolves around three spaces that contemplate three moments when religiosity or spirituality happens: the collective manifestation, which encompasses religious ceremonies; the gathering before or after the collective manifestation, which concerns the groups who come to attend the ceremony, and stay, for instance, at a square near the site where the collective manifestation is held; and the moment of introspection or the individual experience of praying, meditating, or soul-searching which is surely enhanced at a sacred place that provides quietness to feel the spiritual connection. It is by no means easy, however, to bring people with different beliefs together on a common sacred ground that evokes special feelings to either the individual or the group. This quest has guided the design project to consider features that are related to the community’s common issues on daily basis and/or in times of need, namely: drought; inaccessibility to potable water; electrical power; sanitation. Therefore, the design also includes facilities for rainwater storage and treatment, solar energy generation, and restrooms. In addition, it presents flexibility to provide shelter at emergency situations. Searching for solutions to common issues can breed trust and tolerance between different groups. In sum, Tanaff’s inhabitants and outside visitors will use the site not only as a place that serves religious or introspection purposes, but also as a location that provides hope and support. Spiritual salvation taken together with worldly salvation reinforces the needs to share a common ground, strengthens tolerance and mutual respect.
Our team tried to design a sacred architecture started from some appropriate words regarding our designing idea and reaching the conceptual idea of a SAFE NEST: in fact the nest is a safe place for birds, it can be a recover where different families can frow and live in harmony. Studying the nature of our project area the team inspired itself to the black kite, a bird that build his nest using natural materials like branches, soil, but also rubbish and plastic pieces. At the same way our builing is designed with natural materials like wooden planks, branches, palm leaves, soil, but also with waste amterials such as tires, iron piaces and skateboard wheels. The building has an oval form with principal entrance on the street (east) and a lower curve square on the opposite side (west). The building faccade is designed with an overlapping of wooden planks positioned in a way that makes easier the acces of light and wind in the north-west side (side that is exposed to a cooler wind). In some points the planks can split thanks to skateboard wheels to regulate the access of wind and flight. From the principla entrance to the left there are 2 rooms equipped as a permanent cooking area and emergency room, and a connection for the back squadre; to the right there is a flight of steps that conduce to the cult area that has the floor height at 2.10m. This area is a versatile room (adaptable also as an emergncy room) for different type of religions, the walls made of planks are covered with a mangrove weaving, not only referring to nest idea but also trying to represent the coexistence of various religion in this area. Between the rood and the mangrove weaving there are iron pieces that reflects light creating light games. The roof is composed by overlapped layers of palm leaves brought by a primary and secondary system of beams. The roof is inclined to the center of the builidng that is a circular space surronded by two steps that can become sits for a meeting place.
Adamah is an ancient Semitic world with many acceptations: it means “protector” as well as “born from the ground”. This last definition represents the moment in which man, for the first time, answers to “Where did I come from?” “I come from the ground!”. Moreover, it also means “Mother Earth”, “ground which begets”, describing the universal bond that lies at the heart of every human being creation and joins every religion since manarises from the ground and comes back to the ground. Being conceived as a sacred fence with a centralized plan which borns from the ground, this project is designed to be self-built through the repetition of a module which, rotating about its centre, grows while building giving birth to a generative spiral able to combine form, function, statics and aesthetics. To make it a landmark and give an urban role to the sacred space we decided to locate this project in a open, internal area of the village, more specifically to the left of the main axis; in order not to make further operations on the original area, we decided to use pre-existing paths as connecting lines to the sacred place. Learning from the past and local architecture, we thought about a place in which form and material, shadows, light and color meet in a structure made of wood obtained from the vegetation of the surrounding area; a structure which uses simple nodes and a progression of warping to define transparencyand two main areas: a space-in-between which welcomes and protects the community as well as prepares the individual for the sacred place, and the sacred place itself, the point of arrival and contemplation. To enter the sacred area it is necessary to walk though, at least, half of the space-in-between as its threshold's position is the same and opposite to the main entrance of the structure. We tried to re-create an ancestral place, composed of a seat dug in the ground and a water source laying in the middle of the sacred area which corresponds, high on top, to a zenithal oculus opened on the sky of Senegal. This central space is the sacred place which, “inhabitating the ground”, makes a connection between man and sky as below so above according to the only thing principle whereby all is one and one il all. We called this project Adamah as we would like to think every person who will be in touch with it, could find there a chance to get closer to the sky through the ground.
Since the dawn of its existence, mankind has been charmed by the occurrence of natural forces: the impacts were so strong to be idealized and deified. Even a simple element such as the earth, stems from the slow erosion of rocks by the wind and contains the complexity of millennial organic matter cycles processes. The earth contains, therefore, life, and the lushness of the plant world is the direct testimony. When subjected to extended periods of drought, in some cases, its wrinkled face becomes arid omen of famine and death. Starting from this iconography, we would like to exploit the geometric principle of mudcrack, to suggest a symbolic overturning of this polygonal mesh in something that can embraces positive functions, in a place often subject to long periods of lack of water. Our concept wants to provide an aesthetic and functional strategy to realize small forums with a local cultural identity. The aim is to take into account the constantly evolving needs of villages, considering additional parts or simply the change of use of obsolete functions. The design for Kaira Looro consists in a multifunctional place which integrates the realization of the house of worship; a urban square, where people can meet and practice workshop experiences, becomes an incentive to pass the local craft and cultural tradition on to future generations. The identification of this house of worship is suggested by a cluster of many modules in a raised area protected from sunlight even on the peripheral surfaces by wall in clay brick or straw. The entrances are characterised by curtains made in coloured fabrics. Our proposed program includes dedicated spaces to everyday activities of the Village inhabitants: the proposal, as well as the house of worship, encompasses workshops, crafts-drying and storage areas, water harvesting devices (by gravity and dew harvesting according to already-experienced designs), a laundry fountain and a playground for kids.
The traditional architecture defines the relationship between the inside and the outside through brick walls, supporting the straw timber roofs. The project, by reinterpreting this peculiarity, draws a stretched circular space, where a zenithal light is projected downwards. The design combines the typical directioned spatiality towards a point of some religions to the purely concentric one of others. The base of the wall acts as a perimetral bench, which inside, encloses the space allowing people to gather around the light. On the outside, it helps socializing on the public space. The increase in thickness and mass of the wall, emphasizes the time for meditation, generating a sense of protection. The hole in the roof has the function of bringing light within the sacred space, and also works as structural element: the wooden trusses, converging to the center, are self supporting. Rainwater, falling in the middle, suggests the flowing of time. A fabric upholsters the ceiling, hides the roof structure and gives a greater abstraction to the divine sacred space. The concrete floor, sloping towards the center, collects rainwater to an external tank so could be available to the village. The height of the volume is proportional to the local scale and it declares its public attitude, distinguished by form and content. The ends of the wall, not touching, define a full height opening: the entrance.
Kaleidon: the colorful heart of Tanaf. Kaleidon wants to be a sacred space for everyone, a special meeting place for the community. The project is part of the urban fabric and it is close to the most important road of the village. Because of its position and its role, the function as Landmark becomes essential. As such, it will be realised through simple shapes to make the building easily readable. At first sight, the building will appear as a kaleidoscopic volume characterized by a thin and articulated wooden structure that makes it appear almost suspended in the air. In the square gallery the light will be filtered by the countless curtains of the facades, creating an intensely colored and abstract space. This shadowy and colorful space functions as an entrance to the sacred space and it can be used as a place to rest, to meet and for preliminary activities (such as ablutions) required for the prayer. The richness and variety of colors of the facades will lead to a unique central space characterized by a circular plan suitable for all types of worship in the village. This is the heart of the project, where the diversity of the outside world will be reduced to unity. As such, the white walls and the precise geometry of the plan and of the octagonal roof will create a simple and evocative space suitable for everyone. The dialogue between the complex patterns of the tailored curtains and the purity of architectural forms will create a lyrical and unusual space that aims to encourage the dialogue between men and the divine. The simple shape and the use of natural materials from the surrounding areas make the project easy to build even by unskilled workers. The presence of a large and central space, configurable in several ways, makes it a versatile building able to deal with situations of emergency.
The aim of this project is to give a solid but simple covered structure to the inhabitants of Tanaf that could be used as a sacred space. The word “sacred” might not only have a religious meaning, in fact, it can be transformed into a hospital for emergencies such as plagues or natural disasters. The design process did not follow specific forms, spaces or directions that could let prevail a spacial condition related to one of the four prevalent worships. Therefore we based our idea primarily on the concept of shelter, using a simple scheme: columns and beams supporting a roof. In particular, columns are located at the square mesh nodes, that means the space is equally divided and made accesible for all human beings. Beyond the meaning of the space, we have to observe that the construction site has a square form and lays beside the main road of Tanaf. So, to take advantage from this we decided to cover almost all the available space. We did only one exception putting a cylindric wooden tower into the building. This choice has two motivations: a practical and a spiritual one. Concerning the practical one, as the building is situated in the middle of Tanaf village and faces the main road, the tower needs to be visible from far away, announcing the presence of such a space. Furthermore, it lets sunlight descend into the building, as if a transcendental presence would penetrate the earth’s womb to heal mankind from his illnesses. All around the wooden frame there is a thick wall that divides the sacred space from the secular one, lower than the frame, allowing light to enter. It has also niches in the inner side, to allow people storage worship stuff or medications and medical equipment in case of need; it has random-patterned windows on two sides. The wall has two doors which are the building entrances and stands onto a square basement, but larger than the inner surface so that people can take a walk around it. This architectural promenade is protected from sun and external looks by four fences of wooden rods, held up by a planar structural wooden frame. The building provides itself for water cosumption: clay and laterite waterproofing roofs make rain water flow down through ceramic pipe stacks and collect into several underground tanks from which people can draw in the dry season.
Peace is a state of mind in which one’s soul is not engulfed in fears or agonies. “The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside of us while we live”, said Norman Cousins. To achieve peace, is to reach to the point of equilibrium, where no fear of death, nor agony of life exists. The site is located in the region of Casamance where devastating droughts affect 80.000 people. Living without water is living in distress. The fear of death covers 350 villages and communities who live in the region. The project is conceived as a space for contemplation and introspection. With a half above ground, a half underground, it is a space that is "in between" - a balance of life and death. This settlement puts the design into a protective embrace of earth, and provives a discreet ambience to invite people to sink into the tranquility, leaving all worries and troubles above ground. The large roof is inspired by the canopies of the on-site baobab trees. They have the same function of providing shade and comfortable gathering place while the funnel-like form of the roof maximizes the ability of collecting rain water. Below the funnel roof is the underground space for worship. As pilgrims approach the space, they see the rammed clay earth steps in circles that direct them downwards. Conceived as a place for introspection, it is a space that is in between the earth and sky - a journey down into this space is also a journey into one’s self. In the center of the space, rain water is stored in a shallow pool and a cistern below. During hot periods, water in the shallow pool evaporates, the surrounding air is cooled and becomes heavier and flows down to provide a passive cooling effect to the entire underground space. The space is buried under the earth, but in its deepest place, water in the shallow pool brings the sky down through its calming reflection. Inside the space dedicated to Death, we found water - the source of Life.
Concept: a tree bud pokes out of the dead soil. It is a symbol of life or life withhope. Vision: It is more like an unwritten forest law in the wild animal world, under an extremely harsh environment.various species willbegathering in a place with power for keeping them alive. This is the holy land for them,they will Put aside their own attributes, live in peace,respect each other and reverednature, meanwhile to find their own missions, meaning of reproduction prosperity. We hope to plant the seed of hopesto giving this poor soil with power for rebirthing. Thisarchitecture is not only a place for worship, but also a space forlocal residents to overcome the dilemmas, likea space forany potential sanitary or environmental emergency. Also a place for them to communicate, education, help each other. Analysis: This architecture is divided into two parts: 1.Pillar-tree bud. the thick pillar in Centre which is a metaphor for the bud, asifit isbreakingfrom theground. The column is constructed in wooden structure and cascaded upwards 2. A annular space around the column. The sheet of roofaremade of local straws，and enclosure the annular space, as if it is take the land under god’s wing; The tree-shaped columns are supportingthe roof as construction, it is a symbol of life, hold up the whole village.
