Within a densely populated Punggol new town in Singapore, the 3700 sqm Al-Islah Mosque is planned to serve the local Muslim community with a peak capacity of 4500.
We seek the notion of an 'Open Mosque’. As an integral part of the Punggol community, the new mosque aspires to be a model of openness, reflective of contemporary Islamic aspirations in Singapore. The idea of openness extended beyond the formal manifestation of visual porosity, accessibility and climatic openness, to the embracing of different needs within the Muslim community. At the greater community level, in addressing the role of the mosque in promoting religious understanding.
This ambition for the openness posed much challenges in view of the tight site and its proximity to the neighbouring flats. Physical porosity allows visual connection to the neighbourhood and extends the its spatial field beyond its boundary but poses the issues of sanctity and threshold expected of a mosque. Climatically, poriosity offers much benefit of ventilation and daylighting but presents challenges of protection from the monsoon rain.
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