Could this self-cooling mosque be the future of construction in a warming world?
Hikma Community Complex by Mariam Issoufou and Yasaman Esmaili. Photography by James Wang.
Article by Andrew Raven:
The small town of Dandaji, Niger, sits on the edge of the Sahara Desert. It is a place where temperatures routinely top 45°C, blanketing residents in a suffocating, oven-like heat. Unless they’re in the town’s mosque. With its tree-filled garden, soaring ceilings and earthen-brick walls, the building has been designed to chill itself. On the hottest days, it can be up to 15°C cooler than the outside air – without air-conditioning. The mosque is one of two buildings – the other is a library – that make up the Hikma Community Centre.