A Microcosm for All Religions.

The pavilion is a pure volume consisting of two staggered
and communicating white cubes, protected by a translucent roof made of palm
leaf pith. The interiors, characterized by neutral surfaces painted white,
contained two ornamental trees that made these places at the same time sacred
and profane, by the presence of a natural element in an artificial space. The
few vertical openings along the outer walls allow light to enter, creating
delicate patterns of shadow.

A large pool surrounds the pavilion, creating a
spiritual gap between the hospital’s outer macrocosm (and the rest of the
world) and the ventral microcosm intended for prayer. Two walkways traverse the
pool on opposite sides, giving access to the two nuclei of the small building.
Water drawn from the Nile and then reused for irrigation is an element charged
with symbolic values in the sub-Saharan region. Representing purification in
religious terms, it is also the source of life, a vision of salvation in the
arid desert, evoking the Garden of Eden.

Though we did not mean to favor any religion, functionally we had to
deal with the Muslim religion, dominant among the Sudanese, and the rules it
imposes, such as ablution or the separation of men and women. But we set these
rituals in an estranging setting which made them non-dominant, concealing all
symbols and elements that could be traced to a single faith.

The space for ablutions, for example, is simply a water spray that rises
higher inside the pool, an integrating element without any religious
connotation, which enables the faithful to perform their ritual ablutions
before entering the place of worship. The asymmetric union of the two volumes
in turn allows for the separation of the sexes, giving this functional
constraint an added value within the balance of a composition that seeks to
embody the idea of tolerance in architecture.

Client: Emergency ngo

Design: TAMassociati

Program coordinator: Pietro Parrino (EMERGENCY ngo)

Site engineer: Roberto Crestan (EMERGENCY ngo)

Photo Credits:

Marcello Bonfanti

AKAA-Cemal Emden

TAMassociati