“Color is Life” – Designing a Mosque for the Local Community in Muscat

HALBAN Under the supervision of Mr Petrit Pasha and Mr Dawood Al Salmi and Ms. Sadmira Malaj, second-year students of the Department of Urban Planning and Architectural Design (UPAD) at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), had the task to design a community mosque located in Muscat. Yesterday morning the group of 13 students presented their design ideas to a committee of UPAD professors and external architecture experts as well as to their fellow students.

UPAD student Shefa Al Zeidi presented the design of a colourful and open mosque for the community. “Color is life,” she said, inspired by one of her visual arts professors at GUtech. Her mosque features modern Islamic architecture from Yemen and Iran. The mosque includes a large courtyard for gatherings, as well as a Quran school, a library as well as a courtyard with a fountain and a Majlis area for men. “I like the idea behind her project. She was mainly concerned with the social aspect and gathering the community and especially females within the mosque area,” said Petrit Pasha.

Students Manal Al Bahrani, Lulwah Al Riyami and Khadija Al Sawafi designed a mosque just beside GUtech’s main campus. “We were inspired by the National Mosque in Malaysia and used the blue tiles,” said one of the students. The students used columns adopted from the Al Alam Palace in Old Muscat and Arabic patterns from the History of Science Museum on the GUtech campus. Arabic ‘mashrabiyas’ were used to filter the light. They also integrated soft features like a courtyard with a fountain and flowers, symbols of purity.

UPAD Student Hussain Al Lawati presented his model of a mosque named “Al Hadi Mosque” inspired by the design of an Iranian mosque with blue tiles and the mirhab (prayer niche), dome and minaret aligned in one symmetry. Ali Al Ajmi and Asila Al Busaidi designed a mosque for around 300 male and 50 female spaces having a futuristic design and shape. Their mosque includes a majlis area for men, a garden space and male prayer area with a carpet in blue and gold.

(c) GUtech/ Text & Photo: Dr. Manuela Gutberlet & UPAD Department

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