As Islam holds on to its title because the world’s fastest-growing faith, architects are more and more reimagining what a Muslim place of worship can seem like. Right here, we have rounded up eight examples of avant-garde mosques from Kuwait to Bangladesh.
The house of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina, Saudi Arabia, is mostly thought-about to be the primary instance of a mosque. Constructed in 622 CE, it served as a mannequin for early prayer halls, which frequently took the type of enclosed courtyards.
As Islam unfold past the Arabian Peninsula, architects reinterpreted the typology by their native constructing kinds, traditions and supplies. However sure widespread architectural options calcified over time.
Amongst them is a grand prayer corridor, giant sufficient to carry the complete inhabitants of a city or metropolis, with a mihrab wall area of interest pointing worshippers within the path of Mecca, the holy pilgrimage website that Muslims face when praying.
Cubeinside creates red-brick Bait Ur Raiyan Mosque in Bangladesh
Most mosques additionally characteristic a minaret, from which the decision to prayer is introduced 5 instances a day, and a number of domes, or qubba, intricately embellished on the within to characterize the vault of heaven.
In recent times, a brand new technology of architects – each Muslim and never – have began updating these time-honoured codes, abstracting them into clean-lined fashionable varieties that always depend on a connection to nature by gentle or water to evoke a way of the sacred.
Under, we have rounded up eight prime examples, together with a “cave-like” prayer corridor in Turkey and a women-only mosque in Doha by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
Zebun Nessa Mosque, Bangladesh, by Studio Morphogenesis
In lieu of an ornate mihrab area of interest indicating the path of prayer, this mosque on the outskirts of Dhaka options an arched opening that frames views of a small lake, providing worshippers a serene escape from their industrial environment.
Punctuated with rectangular perforations, its pink concrete facade was colored to reference the area’s historic Mughal, Sultanate and Indo-Saracenic structure.
“The perforations create an interaction of sunshine seen in outdated Islamic architectures which are adorned with intricate ‘jali’ works,” Studio Morphogenesis associate Saiqa Iqbal Meghna defined, referencing using ornamental lattice screens for shading and privateness.
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Mamluki Lancet Mosque, Kuwait, by Babnimnim Design Studio
Mamluki Lancet Mosque was designed to marry the extra up to date structure of Al-Masayel, a newly created residential district in Kuwait Metropolis, with conventional Islamic motifs.
5 stacked cuboid volumes kind the prayer corridor, rotated to align its foundations with Mecca and its roof with the encircling buildings. This additionally creates the form of an Islamic star when seen from above.
The inflexible geometric facade is embellished with arch cutouts in homage to classical mosques of the Mamluk period and a sequence of half domes that climb up the constructing to kind skylights and a towering minaret.
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Bab Al Salam Mosque, Oman, by Altqadum
Omani structure agency Altqadum stripped out any elaborate ornamental parts from its design for the Bab Al Salam Mosque in Muscat, within the hopes of guiding attendants in the direction of a “non secular expertise”.
The complicated consists of 5 simplified, abstracted volumes, together with a conical minaret and a round prayer corridor, rendered in a refined rose hue knowledgeable by the color of the close by Al Hajar Mountains.
“There’s a particular concentrate on enhancing the worshiper’s expertise by simplifying and eliminating parts that would disturb the tranquillity and spirituality,” Altqadum architect Marwan Al Balushi advised Dezeen. “Impressed by Omani heritage, the timeless design integrates geometric shapes strategically for acoustic and environmental advantages.”
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Al-Mujadilah Centre and Mosque for Girls, Qatar, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Earlier this yr, American studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro accomplished the primary up to date mosque within the Muslim world to be purpose-built for girls in Doha’s Schooling Metropolis.
As a substitute of a standard dome, the construction is blanketed by a sculptural stone roof that swells to kind a grand prayer corridor on one facet earlier than sloping all the way down to shelter extra intimate social and training areas on the opposite.
“As a lady, the mission was a particular alternative for me to design an area completely for girls that’s versatile and aware of real-time, on a regular basis wants,” defined studio co-founder Elizabeth Diller.
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Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Bangladesh, by Marina Tabassum
This yr is not the primary time that Marina Tabassum has gained the Aga Khan Award. Again in 2016, the Bangladeshi architect was recognised for her Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, constructed on a shoestring funds and funded by donations from locals.
The design affords a contemporary interpretation of the red-brick mosques constructed in Bengal in the course of the Sultanate interval, with added perforations that enable gentle and air to seep inside.
A cylindrical quantity positioned contained in the angular constructing homes the prayer corridor, permitting it to be oriented in the direction of Mecca with out disturbing the prevailing avenue grid. This additionally created 4 voids within the corners that act as small courtyards.
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Punchbowl Mosque, Australia, by Candalepas Associates
An ornamental vaulted concrete roof defines the prayer corridor of this mosque in Sydney’s Punchbowl suburb, referencing the domes and repeated geometric patterns typically present in Islamic structure.
Reasonably than being positioned individually, the ladies’s prayer areas are elevated above the primary corridor in timber-lined galleries, putting “the feminine worshippers on the coronary heart of the mosque”.
“By assigning an equal significance to the periphery and the centre, the historically singular spatial order is re-conceived as fluid, multivalent and participatory,” stated Candalepas Associates.
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Mosque of the Late Mohamed Abdulkhaliq Gargash, UAE, by Dabbagh Architects
Triangular cut-outs and a calligraphy spelling out a verse from the Quran present the one ornament at this monolithic all-white mosque in Dubai by Dabbagh Architects founder Sumaya Dabbagh, which was among the many first within the UAE to be designed by a lady architect.
Dabbagh used the perforations to create shifting patterns of daylight all through the inside and denote the path of prayer.
“Muslim prayer is carried out all through the day at prescribed timings: at daybreak, noon, afternoon, sundown and at night time,” she defined. “This self-discipline creates a human reference to the pure day and night time rhythm.”
“The expertise created by the design of the mosque seeks to reinforce this connection by a managed introduction of pure lighting.”
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Sancaklar Mosque, Turkey, by Emre Arolat Architects
Topped greatest spiritual constructing on the World Structure Pageant in 2013, Sancaklar Mosque on the outskirts of Istanbul consists of a “cave-like” prayer corridor, set right into a pure despair within the panorama.
Shallow terraced steps rise round the primary constructing, accessed through stepping stones that lead throughout a shallow pool of water.
“Sancaklar Mosque goals to handle the basic problems with designing a mosque by distancing itself from the present architectural discussions primarily based on kind and focusing solely on the essence of spiritual area,” defined native studio Emre Arolat Architects.
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