Lead Architect: Waleed Arafa
Architect: Adham Mohamed [Design, Modeling]
Architect: Abdelaziz Elgendy [Design, Modeling]
Architect: Haidy Wael [Design, Modeling, Rendering]
Architect: Daniel Kaldas [Design, Modeling, Rendering]
Sheikh Abdullatif Alfozan Grand Mosque
Year
2022
Location
al-Dammam, KSA
Scope
Design Competition
Status
In Progress
Concept
The first mosque on earth, in the history of mankind, was constructed in the barren and unpopulated desert of Arabia. The great city of Makkah came into existence, as a direct result of this first mosque. The mosque created place from nothing.
‘O our Sustainer! Behold, I have settled some of my offspring in a valley in which there is no arable land, close to Thy sanctified Temple, so that, O our Sustainer, they might devote themselves to prayer: cause Thou, therefore, people’s hearts to incline towards them and grant them fruitful sustenance, so that they might have cause to be grateful.‘O our Sustainer! Behold, I have settled some of my offspring in a valley in which there is no arable land, close to Thy sanctified Temple, so that, O our Sustainer, they might devote themselves to prayer: cause Thou, therefore, people’s hearts to incline towards them and grant them fruitful sustenance, so that they might have cause to be grateful. Likewise, the first Muslim city in history was inaugurated by the act of building a mosque. Yathrib became al-Madina al-Munawwara when Prophet Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- entered it and almost immediately started constructing the mosque that has become, and remains to date, its focal point and thriving headquarters, spiritually, socially, economically and politically. The mosque created a community in unison out of a waring and torn society. These are two pioneering and powerful examples that prove the capacity and authority of the mosque typology in generating architecture and urban development, of creating place and community.
‘O our Sustainer! Behold, I have settled some of my offspring in a valley in which there is no arable land, close to Thy sanctified Temple, so that, O our Sustainer, they might devote themselves to prayer: cause Thou, therefore, people’s hearts to incline towards them and grant them fruitful sustenance, so that they might have cause to be grateful.‘O our Sustainer! Behold, I have settled some of my offspring in a valley in which there is no arable land, close to Thy sanctified Temple, so that, O our Sustainer, they might devote themselves to prayer: cause Thou, therefore, people’s hearts to incline towards them and grant them fruitful sustenance, so that they might have cause to be grateful. Likewise, the first Muslim city in history was inaugurated by the act of building a mosque. Yathrib became al-Madina al-Munawwara when Prophet Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- entered it and almost immediately started constructing the mosque that has become, and remains to date, its focal point and thriving headquarters, spiritually, socially, economically and politically. The mosque created a community in unison out of a waring and torn society. These are two pioneering and powerful examples that prove the capacity and authority of the mosque typology in generating architecture and urban development, of creating place and community.
Concept
Likewise, the first Muslim city in history was inaugurated by the act of building a mosque. Yathrib became al-Madina al-Munawwara when Prophet Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- entered it and almost immediately started constructing the mosque that has become, and remains to date, its focal point and thriving headquarters, spiritually, socially, economically and politically. The mosque created a community in unison out of a waring and torn society.
These are two pioneering and powerful examples that prove the capacity and authority of the mosque typology in generating architecture and urban development, of creating place and community.
The mosque is indeed the public building par excellence in any Muslim community. It is used by everyone, men and women, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the resident and the transient. Consequently, it influences everyone.
Thus, we must be extremely careful every time we draw a line, choose a structural system, select a building material, or infuse a new location with a semiotic and/or aesthetic language as part of a new mosque proposal.
Every design decision, to the minutest detail, has the power and responsibility of inspiring positive growth and progress in a given location or the exact reverse result. It is not an overstatement to say that we build our mosques and then our mosques build our cities.
