-Excerpt- The replastering, or remodeling, has preserved the structure but also, over time, subtly altered it, rounding and softening its contours, giving it a molten, biomorphic look — the visual equivalent of Malian Islam, some say — insistently powerful without being harsh.
More critically, the accumulated layers of plastering have gradually weakened the structure. In 2006 the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, based in Geneva and with a mandate to conserve earthen architecture, declared the mosque in danger of collapse and began an extensive restoration, which changed the shape yet again: curves and irregularities became crisp Modernist angles and straight lines.
via The Great Mosque in Djenné, Mali — An Art Critic in Africa – NYTimes.com.
Djenné: The Conservation Paradox
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/04/15/arts/design/cotter-africa-art.html?ref=design
Ismailimail 
“Earthen but Transcendent”, love that line :)
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