DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - <FAKRUL RADZI AB RAHIM>

Abstract

Roughly my design project is a mosque which located at Tunis City, and if you can see a little picture here, my specific site located at H12, the very bottom right of the whole Tunis site. I chose to design a mosque basically to get more or less idea how to design a mosque and I was thinking that perhaps one day I can build one in my country. I do realize that there is Al-Zitouna mosque located at the center of Tunis but I guess it is not wrong for having another mosque since the city’s population is very dense and also to give another option to the people which mosque they want to perform their prayer. Basically, I want to make the mosque not merely for people to come, perform their prayer and go back home. I want to make the building as a place where principles of Islam can be practice as a whole, which people can fulfill their obligation to Allah, where knowledge can be gained, where relationship can be strengthen and so on. The prophet Muhammad emphasized on the importance of seeking knowledge which he says “seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave” and the importance of maintaining good relationship which he says “none of you is a true believer in Islam until and unless he loves for his fellow man than what he loves for his own self”. Based on those principles, I intended to make the mosque to have more contemporary functions such as library, classrooms and multipurpose hall. The library will be the place where people can find reading materials about Islam and Tunisia in general. The classrooms will be used to conduct religious classes especially for the young people and multipurpose hall can be used for any community event for example feast, talks and so on. The main components of prayer hall complex consist of separate prayer rooms, lobbies, and ablutions for both men and women as to give more privacy and also rooms for Imam and Muezzin. Apart from that, I also added children room for kids to play around while their parents are praying for instance, and office room for the management team. In terms of design element, I chose traditional and contemporary elements concept so that the mosque can sit comfortably in Tunis which has been said a blend of ancient and modernity. I choose to maintain traditional recognized mosque elements which are the dome and minarets because I think it is important as to signal people that the building is a mosque. Dome. Minaret In addition, I use semi circular arch for the doorways and part of the design for the façade as to give more traditional looks to the building. The contemporary concept which I meant just now is the use of Islamic architecture styles which comprises arabesque pattern and calligraphy. This arabesque pattern really attract me as it derives from the Arabic word “Alhamdulillah” which means “praise be to Allah” and I’m thinking of using this pattern to make as a screen. I choose this two calligraphy to be further developed as a cut-out and appear emerge from the wall. The first one reads as “lailahaillah” which means “theres no god except Allah” and I’m thinking of wrap it surround the building. And the second one reads as “bismillahirahmaniraahhim” which means “in the name of god, the most gracious and the most merciful” and I’m thinking of put it at the façade as a welcoming message to the people.