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Design by: DHK Architects and Two Think

Year: 2009

Category:

A sophisticated archive library in the center of Timbuktu’s historic district provides a place for the preservation of long-neglected manuscripts and invites a re-examination of African history.


^{Photo: Iwan Baan}

Context
Timbuktu’s lively streets are packed with pedestrians, donkeys and the odd car meandering through the dense and slow-moving network. The city has a high poverty level, with a working population of only 20 per cent, yet there is an atmosphere of coexistence, particularly apparent when walking the intricate network of streets. This is in stark contrast with Mali’s capital city Bamako, whose streets are vehicle-dominated, making urban life chaotic and unmanageable. Bamako’s urban sprawl is the result of modern urban planning ideals, where long highways connect remote zones, and the car becomes the most important mode of transport. The results of such planning principles are fallow pieces of useless land that segregate the city. Timbuktu, on the other hand, closely resembles the European ‘ring road’ model, in which car use is largely restricted to the outer and inner ring of streets and only permeates the pedestrian realm at certain points.

The sophistication and complexity of Timbuktu’s urban pattern was the focus for the Ahmed Baba architectural team. The Ahmed Baba site is located at the junction of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ parts of the city, and is adjacent to the famous Sankore Mosque, which marks a pivotal point in the metropolis. Three main arterial roads lead to the site, making it an important centre of activity.

Mission
The Ahmed Baba Centre in Timbuktu has the unique mission of preserving and presenting the ancient written treasures that testify to Africa’s intellectual past, challenging the common notion that the continent has only an oral tradition. Manuscripts date from as early as the twelfth century and are mainly written in Arabic, with a few exceptions in local languages. They cover a broad range of subjects from history, theology, law and astronomy to medicine. In addition, factual documents such as letters, journals and legal papers give an insight into Timbuktu’s society and history. These delicate books from pre-colonial Muslim Africa are highly endangered by the climate and insects. While there are currently around 80 private libraries in Timbuktu, often the owners don’t have the means or expertise to ensure the preservation of their manuscripts. The fi rst efforts to save them were made in 1970 at UNESCO’s initiative. The IHERI-AB (Institute des Hautes Etudes et de Recherche Islamique Ahmed Baba) was established 30 years later as an independent institute of higher learning, with the legal and fi nancial framework to assure the ‘restoration and conservation, scientific exploitation and dissemination of the manuscripts in possession while also offering services to private collectors and owners’.

Realization
Ahmed Baba’s physical plan was inspired by Timbuktu’s layout. ‘The fi rst take was just looking at the urban planning of Timbuktu, which had a sporadic and organic growth,’ explains project architect Andre Spies. ‘It’s a straightforward approach: a few buildings grouped around a courtyard and walkways, and that is pretty much the way in which Timbuktu grew as well.’ Four separate blocks defi ned programmatically as the archive, restoration area, research spaces and auditorium are spread along a patio. An open amphitheatre makes the connection with the surrounding urban square, drawing in the public from the street. The archive, which holds over 30,000 items, is housed in a basement to lower dependency on air conditioning and electricity. Covered open spaces link all the enclosed buildings to create free airfl ow and natural ventilation, and internal walkways replicate the patterns of movement in Timbuktu’s city streets. It was important to the South African architects that the local workforce in Mali be used for the construction of the archive. During the process, the South African technical team travelled to Timbuktu regularly, and a team of ten South Africans remained in Timbuktu for two full years.

The architecture of the centre relates to the site’s interstitial zone, in that it is a combination of sun-baked mud bricks reminiscent of the ‘old’ city and off-shutter concrete reminiscent of the ‘new’ city. These two substances form the main structural materials and are tectonically separated by glass. Together they create an obvious contrast between old and new techniques, which in turn relate directly to the area. In Timbuktu’s challenging context, the new Ahmed Baba Centre assumes the diffi cult role of a subtle mediator between different spaces, different times and different worlds.

Location
Timbuktu, Mali

More information
www.twothink.co.za
www.dhk.co.za

_{Text by Elvia Pyburn-Wilk. Read the full story in the book TESTIFY! The consequences of architecture, edited by Lukas Feireiss. This publication coincides with the international travelling exhibition TESTIFY! The consequences of architecture by the Netherlands Architecture Institute.}