The Epiphany of the Lord Church of Nianing (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: Église Sainte-Épiphanie-du-Seigneur de Nianing) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in Nianing,

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

History

The construction of the Epiphany of the Lord Church in Nianing commenced with the laying of the foundation stone in December 2014 by Cardinal Théodore Adrien Sarr'','' Archbishop of Dakar. It was set to be delivered to the Catholic community of the locality within 18 months. The project was funded by French benefactor Patrick Thelot in collaboration with other partners at a cost of several hundred million CFA francs. Eglise de Nianing.jpg, Eglise de Nianing In February 2018, the church was inaugurated by archbishop Benjamin Ndiaye in the presence of notable figures including the President of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Moustapha Niasse Moustapha Niasse (born 4 November 1939
.) is a

, the French Ambassador to Senegal, Christophe Bigot, and Cardinal Théodore Adrien Sarr. Prior to this, the Christian community of Nianing had been in need of a church, relying on a chapel for worship. The church has been awarded for its excellence in Architectural Design within the category of Miscellaneous Architecture by Architecture MasterPrize.

Architecture

The church is shaped like a seashell, inspired by the spiral form of the cymbium widely found along the Petite-Côte and Senegalese coastlines. Designed by architect Nicolas Vernoux-Thélot, the structure incorporates

bioclimatic Green building (also known as green construction, sustainable building, or eco-friendly building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's l ...

principles and construction constraints. The church's seating capacity of 800 is characterized by a succession of six vaults, culminating in the height of the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

. The first double vault, with a lowered and skewed arch, has an average width of 18.50 meters and a height of 7.60 meters. It consists of 3 main transverse concrete arches plus 4 crossed arches at the center of the vault. Embracing

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

principles, the church eschews traditional

air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

systems, relying solely on

passive ventilation Passive ventilation is the process of supplying air to and removing air from an indoor space without using mechanical systems. It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result of pressure differences arising from natural forc ...

. The structure is enclosed on its northern side to shield against the hot, arid winds of the

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into th ...

, while deliberately opening towards the west to invite the cooling

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

from the sea. The bell tower serves as a "wind tower," harnessing natural

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

to draw in the trade winds and facilitate natural ventilation within the building. The design also incorporates

biomimetic Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from (''bios''), life, and μίμησις ('' mīm ...

features inspired by

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

mounds, which efficiently regulate internal temperatures despite extreme external conditions.

References

{{coord, 14.3478, -16.9287, type:landmark_region:SN, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Senegal Roman Catholic churches completed in 2018 2018 establishments in Senegal