Five Mosques have been awarded at the 4th cycle of Abdullatif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture
Abdullatif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture honored 5 awarded mosques of the 4th (2020-2023), which was announced during a massive ceremony organized by the award at the National Museum in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) last Sunday 5 March 2023 under the generous patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar (Prince Of Riyadh) and presence of HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Award, and in the forefront of the audience were Sheikh Abdullatif Alfozan (award founder) , Mr. Abdullah Alfozan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alfozan Social Foundation, and Dr. Mashary Al-Naim, Secretary-General of the Award, along with a group of architects , engineers, mosque researchers, experts and specialists.
The awarded five mosques came out of 22 mosques on the short list that competed for the award out of a total of 200 mosques from all over the world, with the aim of establishing a base and a broader understanding of the levels of mosque architecture between the past, present and future. The award included 3 categories: the category of central mosques with influence and presence at the national level in each country, the category of mosques where Friday prayers are held, and the category of neighborhood mosques.
The awarded five mosques are, Mosque of Islamic Center at Ljubljana (Slovenia), Dogramacizade Ali Pasa Mosque at Ankara (Turkey), Topalla Mosque (Serbia), Abu Baker Mosque (Mozambique), and Australian Islamic center Mosque (Australia).
As for Ljubljana Mosque, designed by Architect Vasa Perovic, this Mosque went beyond common mosque typology. It is a conventional center adding high tech envelop treatment within the architectural element. Its hidden dome was embedded inside the main cubical body of the prayer hall, although the minaret was added, it was not dominating with the overall aesthetic appearance of the mosque. The mosque resonates a profound urban fabric quality, and as for Topalla Mosque, Serbia designed by Arber sadiki, this mosque signifies simplicity in architectural design which fits with the natural environment. The interesting part of the design is the implemented lighting inside a very limited interior raising the spiritual quality. The third awarded mosque is Dogramacizade Ali Pasa Mosque, Turkey designed by Erkut Sahinbas, in today’s vision, the typical form of a Mosque has been associated with a dome and a minaret, this mosque was chosen to show an evolved articulated base reminding us of muqarnas geometry, which is missing in contemporary architecture today, where the dome is added as a feature. The plan of its complexity of its multifunctional purpose shows the mosques’ role in the social context. The fourth awarded mosque was the Australian Islamic Centre mosque, Australia designed by Glenn Murcutt and Hakan Elevli, this Mosque shows another approach of the sacred building to be mostly cultural, serving the community needs keeping the mosque simple, the architect tried to insert the presence of the minaret in an unprecedented form. The prayer hall shows a characteristic introduction of the cosmic behavior through the interplay of light during the day and the season from within the roof creating different moods. And finally the fifth is Abu Bakr Mosuqe, Mozambique designed by Mohamad Mayet, the design approach of the mosque showed competence with the traditional heritage values of mosque design. The mosque reiterated traditional mosque typology in a simple basic manner. This reflected in the opening and the supporting beams of the roof structure. The overall silhouette showcases the minaret in a coherent articulated growth from the base.
The awarding reviewal process has been done by an international master jury of three architects, one anthropologist, one artist, the jury members have met twice, the first one in February 2022 in virtual meeting, and the second meeting was at Kuwait in November 2022. The five awarded projects were selected because of unique architectural concepts, in which contain renewed forms as well as connectivity with communities. The Jury was chaired by the Saudi Jordanian architect Rasem Badran, the Turkish architect Emre Arolat, the Bangladeshi architect Kashef Mahboub, the British artist Ahmad Mostafa and finally the French sociologist Sari Hanafi,
The secretary-general of the award, Dr. Mashary Al Naim stated that the award aims to draw attention to mosque architecture, and it is considered a basic platform that contributes to developing knowledge about mosque architecture, and building global knowledge about mosque architecture and its related arts. Dr. Al Naim showed that this cycle awarded mosques reflecting the award vision in creating new paradigm in mosque architecture. Finally, the Abdullatif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture has published the 4th cycle documentary book titled “Universal Acquaintance”, this book is illustrating all shortlisted mosque, as well as the awarded mosques with detailed description and critics wrote the book authors Prof. Mashary Al Naim and Prof. Wael Samhouri. For further information Please visit: www.alfozanaward.org
