Architecture & Infrastructure
Sahelian mud-brick engineering at Djenné
The problem
Earth is the cheapest available material and the least durable under seasonal rain and extreme heat.
The innovation
Sun-dried ferey bricks and banco render over a timber armature of protruding palm beams, producing walls that regulate interior temperature and can be resurfaced every year.
How it worked
The projecting toron beams are permanent scaffolding: the whole community replasters the Great Mosque in a single organised day each year, which is what keeps a mud building standing for generations.
Why it mattered
The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud-brick structure in the world and the centre of a living maintenance tradition.
The legacy
Djenné's hereditary masons' guild still governs the technique, now studied as a model of low-carbon, climate-responsive construction.
Sources
Old Towns of Djenné — World Heritage documentation
Institutional recordStudies of Sahelian earthen architecture and the Djenné masons' guild
Institutional record
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