The Smart Mosque of the Arabian Gulf: Solutions from the pastfor a sustainable, energy-efficient Mosque

This study examines the smart mosque as a concept, developed through innovations in materials and technologies adopted to provide thermal comfort conditions and energy- efficient environments, in order to promote a sustainable mosque. The paper first provides a theoretical underpinning of the smart solutions applied in historical mosques with a critical review of its philosophical and practical framework. Second, it will examine the efforts made by the Gulf states authorities in the last decade to pursue smart mosque projects in the region, by reviewing a number of possible smart solutions which can be applied to the mosques in order to achieve sustainability in design. Although this concept is relatively new, this paper will argue that there are many historical mosques in the Arabian Gulf, in addition to many examples drawn from the various Islamic regions, that responded to the prevailing environmental conditions, within the technological and scientific advancement at the time, and had the ‘smart design concept’ rooted in its design through its architectural and interiors programs. 

The_smart_mosque_of_the_Arabian_Gulf_Sol.pdf