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Photo is by Luca Compri Chad N Djamena Grand Hotel, N Djamena, by TAU ⁄ Roberto Sechi, Luca Compri The N Djamena Grand Hotel is part of an architectural complex designed to host big political events. It is situated in N Djamena city centre, overlooking the Chari River. The building is characterised by its palace-like structure and its rectangular shape. The facade of this hotel building clearly shows the Arabic influence on Chadian architecture. The repetitive patterns of the facade give the building a grandeur that many modern mosques can hardly match. In total, it has eight levels. On the ground floor is the lobby (a double-height space), the restaurant, the cafeteria, the meeting room, and all of the administrative offices. The 187 bedrooms cover the remaining floors and have varying sizes: the higher the floor number, the bigger and more luxurious the rooms become, ending with the deluxe executive suites on the top floor. ....
An ambitious seven-volume encyclopedia captures the wealth of architectural wonders in 49 sub-Saharan African countries. The wooden struts protruding from the facade of the Bobo Dioulasso mosque in Burkina Faso double up as scaffolding when required The miragelike Grand Mosque of Djenne in Mali could have very well have inspired Antoni Gaudi s renowned Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. In Burkina Faso, the iconic Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso features conical towers dotted with wooden struts that resemble spears from afar but double up as scaffolding for repair works whenever necessary. These are but two of the numerous impressive buildings that first captivated Berlin-based architect and publisher Phillip Meuser. It was during his work trips to West Africa that Meuser discovered the richness and originality of sub-Saharan African architecture, which until then hardly got mention in specialist literature. ....