“The largest Islamic icon in the city, the Kowloon Mosque by IMK Architects won the Best Design Award at the Aga Khan International Design Competition”
The Kowloon Mosque in Hong Kong, was built in 1984 to give representation to the Muslim Muslims from South Asia and Indonesia. Today, the mosque continues to celebrate the unique culture and identity of the city’s Muslim community and is the largest mosque in the city. Ornate and elaborate, the mosque building is a composition of geometric forms and volumes, creating an architecture for a religious typology not only to conform to the expected image of a mosque, but to play around with forms and details. The mosque holds five prayers daily and is capable of accommodating up to 3,500 people.
The most prominent features of the building are the four 11-metre-high minarets which mark the corners of the upper terrace and the white marble finish on both the paving and the façade. In addition to three prayer halls and a community hall, the building houses a medical clinic and a library. The main prayer hall on the first floor can accommodate 1,000 people. A smaller prayer hall, for women, on the upper floor is surrounded by a terrace and surmounted by a 5- 9-metre-high dome.
The traditional Islamic architecture of the mosque distinguishes itself from the rational and modern architecture of the nearby commercial buildings. Developed through geometric precision and Islamic elements, it suggests a shift to a visual and standardised recall of history.
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