With the competition opened by UNESCO, it is aimed to restore Al Nuri Mosque, one of the most important structures and social centers of Mosul, and to become an important center for the revival of the city after conflicts with social and cultural structures to be built around it.
With the given program, a contemporary complex was designed with the restoration of the mosque for contemporary needs, open prayer areas, religious-cultural visit areas, secondary school, cultural center, administration and service spaces.
The Al Nouri Mosque has seen various interventions and additions since the first build date. The mosque had multiple architectural and social layers of 850 years until damage in 2017. The Al Nouri mosque is not only architectural heritage but also cultural significance with the passing of time in Mosul.
The mosque has received incompatible additions and architectural interventions since the mid20th century. In the reconstruction application, it is planned to reconstruct the building in accordance with the traditional in holistic approach.
The basic principles of the proposed protection-repair strategy are:
- Protection, conservation and consolidation all remaining part of heritage
- Removal of unqualified architectural additions and incompatible materials from the building (as mosaic cladding on the dome, concrete eaves, cement based plasters, the incompatible marble claddings and ornaments on the surface of original cut stones)
- Using of all recuperated architectural elements (pieces of columns, arches, walls, entrances, niches, pulpit) in reconstruction process
- Protection authenticity of the remaining original parts
- Using the materials are compatible with traditional materials and construction techniques in reconstruction process
- Where traditional techniques prove inadequate, the consolidation of a monument can be achieved by the use of any modern technique for conservation and construction
- The marks of the historical and original parts of buildings are shown in landscaping with using difference of materials