An experience in learning: design of a multi-disciplinary university at Timbuktu, Mali

Abstract

Timbuktu is a city in Mali, North Africa. lt has been a real and legendary city, and the Islamic center of North Africa. The program proposes a major international, multi-disciplinary University which will focus the world’s attention to the problems prevalent in that area and address them. If Islamic is not an adjective defining a religious quality, should it be understood as a word that identifies a special kind of Architecture, that of a civilization reflecting or determined by special qualities inherent in Islam as a cultural phenomenon? The design is an attempt in discussing the spatial elements in Islamic architecture which appear to be typical and an attempt is made to explain those elements as expressions of culture created by Islam. The design solution is an expression of the place incorporating those elements of Islamic architecture which are still prevalent and which address the ecological, cultural, and social issues endemic to Timbuktu.