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Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners
Mosque ,  | International Design Awards Winners

Mosque

Lead DesignersSait Onur EDES
Prize(s)Honorable Mention
Entry Description

What is needed in a Mosque is a vast space, space that needs light, which is a fact has long tended to be forgotten.

The goal here is to define this needed space with structure, to structure the space through the means of absolute meaningful simplicity, and to use this structure to define all the conventional building blocks of the prayer area, in an unconventional matter.

What has provided the mosque with its architectural language is its structure with the vast space it created, which has given it a monumental and symbolic role and the means to be a societal device of memory through the ages. The dome has risen out of the need for a structure for people to gather in, and the force that has converted the construction techniques into architecture and space has been the light that comes from the dome and the walls that carry it. The contemporary here is to interpret/expand on the light that this space needs using the modern production techniques and materials. Here lies the harmony of the contemporary and the unchanging.

A square form has been chosen for two reasons. It is the most ideal form for current purposes as shown by researches of acoustics, and it has the capacity to gather everyone within a particular area at the same distance from the preacher, while avoiding leaning towards a particular region. Unconventionally, the square form that creates the planning scheme has been lifted upwards from its two diagonal lines and the space that delimits the area from the ground level has not been detached. Thus, both the interior and the exterior areas were given a definitive quality through simplicity. The lines that have been transferred to three dimensions that delimit the space are planned to be structured through steel truss beams.

The structure needed to support the roof and to maintain the rigidity of the supporting system is attained through an additional square form within the main form. The area that lies between the walls of the main form and the walls that delimit this secondary square create the area for late comers place (portico), worship and prayer areas. The side of the secondary square that faces the minaret forms the Ki-blah wall.

The element that would transform this space created by the supporting system into a holy place is light. The light that has been obtained into the place in a traditional way through the dome drum and hoarded walls has been reconstructed through the possibilities permitted by the modern structure techniques and materials. The light has been obtained into the building through the gaps left by the supporting system, as allowed by the system. The beams of light upon the walls have been used to create images that simulate the effect of traditional wall decorations. The interior atmosphere varies according to the movements of the sun during the day. Additionally, as a result of the angles of the holes created, the effect of light varies at any point within the building. In the interior, everyone’s perception of light is different; through the light and its use, it has been attempted to create a unique place where one and God could be alone.

The holes that have been created on the supporting system have been continued along the minaret and the roof, and therefore the power of the effect of light in the interior has been increased. In addition, light has been obtained through the holes on the minaret and is projected on the gap between the minaret and the Mihrab, which is an attempt at creating a sense of immortality on top of this wall and along the gap that lies beneath it.

The exterior space created by the structure is divided into two components by the Ki-blah wall, forming the boundaries of the mosque yard. The first component is intended the provide the exterior space for friday, bairam and funeral praying sessions and the second component is intended to be a park. Through the water used by the park, the mosque yard has been aimed to be included in the urban lifestyle. At the same time, through the environment created by the park and the water element behind the Ki-blah wall, the heaven image that is desired for afterlife in the Islamic religion was aimed to be simulated.
In order to strengthen this image, a particular piece of Ned Khan’s that belongs to a series of work dealing with the wind is suggested that is called Fragmented Sea (Fragmented Sea (http://nedkahn.com/wınd.html). The Ki-blah wall is formed by blue aluminum panels placed on very thin stainless steel wires along a fixed axis. The panels move with the wind, and during this movement reflect the light that falls upon them from the sky. The image of heaven was supported by the panels and the wind that make all tones of blue visible, as well as the water and the trees seen from the gaps between the panels.

Through studying what those who practiced before us do, along with the reasons and methods for those actions, concepts such as structure, space, light, location were aimed to be reinterpreted in order to allow the worshipers to complete their prayers in a light that is congruent with the modern knowledge and requirements. All this effort is for the spatial and stylistic search of today without any loss in symbolic power or atmospheric effect, through the means of absolute meaningful simplicity.