{"id":1378,"date":"2016-03-04T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/amanda-levete-modern-mosque-abu-dhabi\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T09:25:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T13:25:10","slug":"amanda-levete-modern-mosque-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/industry\/amanda-levete-modern-mosque-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"Lattice of Light: Amanda Levete Unveils a Modern Mosque for Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been a proliferation of striking contemporary designs for mosques emerging from architecture studios in recent times, with Henning Larsen<\/a>, BIG<\/a> and Rux Design<\/a> all producing radical reinterpretations of this age-old typology. London-based firm Amanda Levete Architects<\/a> may have conceived the most modern mosque yet, though, triumphing in a key competition to design a new religious complex at the heart of Abu Dhabi\u2019s new World Trade Center development.<\/p>\n

Set for construction adjacent to Foster + Partners<\/a>\u2019 World Trade Center, Levete\u2019s scheme is half mosque, half park, with internal and external spaces laid out according to a diagonal grid that evokes ancient Islamic patterns. As visitors arrive through the park, the trees and columns of the building align to form paths akin to traditional arcades, leading people toward the entrance.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

\u201cThe mosque is envisaged as a piece of the city, one that reflects the journey from the temporal to the spiritual,\u201d explains Ho Yin Ng, director at Amanda Levete Architects. \u201cSet within a park, the mosque and the garden become one, with the trees and the columns forming an informal vertical landscape and allowing Friday prayers to spill outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

Inside, the open-plan space is defined by a perforated roof that was designed using a bespoke computer script, varying the amount of light and shade in different parts of the mosque. The resulting canopy is a soaring lattice that will provide a serene, light-filled retreat for people to pray in, and it blurs the boundary between internal space and the natural environment as sunbeams travel across the void.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

The signature roof \u2014 conceived as a landscape to be viewed from the upper floors of surrounding skyscrapers \u2014 is complemented by a slender tower, a modern abstraction of the traditional minaret. Situated within a reflecting pool, this column of web-like metal ascends toward the sky, acting as a beacon for the mosque and a new architectural landmark in the newest district of Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

For more modern mosques, explore our collection of eight contemporary twists<\/a> on this complex religious typology.<\/p>\n

Images via Wallpaper Magazine<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a proliferation of striking contemporary designs for mosques emerging from architecture studios in recent times, with Henning Larsen, BIG and Rux Design all producing radical reinterpretations of this age-old typology. London-based firm Amanda Levete Architects may have conceived the most modern mosque yet, though, triumphing in a key competition to design a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"projects","architizer_featured_image":"1510433","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-1378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry","category-inspiration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLattice of Light: Amanda Levete Unveils a Modern Mosque for Abu Dhabi - Architizer Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/industry\/amanda-levete-modern-mosque-abu-dhabi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lattice of Light: Amanda Levete Unveils a Modern Mosque for Abu Dhabi - Architizer Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There has been a proliferation of striking contemporary designs for mosques emerging from architecture studios in recent times, with Henning Larsen, BIG and Rux Design all producing radical reinterpretations of this age-old typology. 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