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E-book
Author Ross, Eric, 1962- author.

Title Sufi City : urban design and archetypes in Touba / Eric Ross
Published Rochester : University of Rochester Press, 2006

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Description 1 online resource (xv, 290 pages) : illustrations, maps
Series Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora, 1092-5228
Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora. 1092-5228
Contents Archetypes: Sufi phenomenology and the semiosis of landscape -- Urban design: the spatial configuration of a spiritual project -- Marabout Republics then and now: autonomous Muslim towns in Senegal -- The Pénc: trees and urban design in West Africa
Summary 'Sufi City: Urban Design and Archetypes in Touba' is a geographical study of the modern Muslim holy city of Touba in Senegal, capital of the Mouride Sufi order. Touba was founded in 1887 by a Sufi shaykh in a moment of mystic illumination. Since the death of the founder in 1927, the Mouride order has designed and built the entire city. Touba is named for Tûbâ, the 'Tree of Paradise' of Islamic tradition. This archetypal tree articulates Islamic conceptions of righteous life on earth, divine judgment, and access to the Hereafter; the city of Touba actualizes this spiritual construct. Important aspects of its configuration, such as the vertical and horizontal alignment of its monumental central shrine complex, its radiating avenues and encircling ring roads, and the actual trees that mark its landscape relate directly to the archetypal tree of Sufi theosophy. The relationship between the spiritual archetype and its earthly actualization as a city is explained by recourse to Sufi methodology. The book employs a semiotic analysis of urban form, cartography, hermeneutics, field investigation and analysis of satellite imagery in order to relate contemporary urban design issues to overarching metaphysical concepts. 'Sufi City' also explores the history of urban networks in Senegal since the emergence of autonomous Muslim towns in the seventeenth century. Finally, the layout of Senegal's modern Sufi cities is related to the monumental palaver trees that marked that country's historic settlements. Eric S. Ross is a cultural and urban geographer who holds a degree in Islamic Studies. Since 1998 he has been assistant professor of Geography at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. Apart from research on Sufi orders and Muslim towns in Senegal, he has studied cultural tourism and urban planning in Morocco
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-275) and index
Notes English
Subject Sufism -- Social aspects -- Senegal -- Touba
Landscapes -- Social aspects -- Senegal -- Touba
Symbolism in architecture -- Senegal -- Touba
City and town life -- Senegal -- Touba
City planning -- Senegal -- Touba
Landscape architecture -- Senegal -- Touba
City and town life -- Senegal -- Case studies
City planning -- Senegal -- Case studies
Islamic cities and towns -- Senegal -- Case studies
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- City Planning & Urban Development.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- African.
City and town life
City planning
Geography
Islamic cities and towns
Landscape architecture
Landscapes -- Social aspects
Sufism -- Social aspects
Symbolism in architecture
Stadtgeografie
SUBJECT Touba (Senegal) -- Geography
Subject Senegal
Senegal -- Touba
Touba Senegal
Touba <Senegal>
Genre/Form Case studies
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781580466615
1580466613
1281770779
9781281770776
9786611770778
6611770771