Gulshan Society Mosque
Date Added
18/07/2019
Content Type
Image
Category
Mosques
Link to Content
Subject Area
Architecture
Description
The urban plot allocated for this
mosque was relatively small but survey suggested that the mosque would need to
accommodate a large congregation. This necessitated reimagining the mosque
typology into a vertically stacked volume. Planned for 2500, the building is
presently attended by up to 4500 people for the weekly Friday prayer.
Because of the limited size of the
plot the court-prayer hall sequence had to be substituted for a pragmatic
approach. The entrance, for example, is immediate: a flight of steps from the
sidewalk directly leads to the main vestibule and prayer hall. All floors are
accessible by generous stairs and elevators, taking visitors to six upper
levels.
All
interior spaces benefit from good penetration of natural light and ventilation.
The latter is made possible by the employment of a jali or screen structure, which wraps the building
and generates its unique form and façades, while ensuring protection from rain
and solar heat gain. The jali is an
abstraction of “La-ilaha-illallah” – a fundamental declaration in Islam
proclaiming, there is no God but God in Arabic – in the thousand year old Kufic
script, which runs continuously in bands on all four sides.
References: https://www.archdaily.com/917210/gulshan-society-mosque-kashef-chowdhury-urbana
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Photographer: Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury