Master Thesis

Thesis type: Written Thesis

Title: Synergic Spaces – Mosque

Subtitle: Generative principles for Mosque Design through cross-disciplinary Approach

Context: Berlin

Thesis Master:

Prof. Dr. Ing. Andrea Haase - first supervisor
Prof. Mag. Arch. Matias del Campo - second supervisor

Abstract:

The congregation Mosque [1], Mesjid (From Arabic, sujud = prostration) is one of the most important institutions of Muslim world also the predominant architectonic built form of Muslim architecture. The dynamics of change in Muslim societies found the mosque discredited leading to a structural metonyms of Muslim identity [2]. A cross-disciplinary approach is needed in order to approach the task.

The cross-disciplinary approach here is defined as a set of methods relevant to the Mosque temporally and spatially, synthesized at the point of ‘Synergic Space’.

Knowledge, disciplines, fields of relevance to the Mosque will be structured together as an approach in regional and international level.

Figure 1.28: Curvature extrema and their inferred processes in Henry Moore’s Three Piece #3, Vertebrae).

Excerpt from: Leyton. Michael, ‘The Structure of Painting’ 2006 Springer-Verlag/Wien

[1] Here with the term Mosque is understood not merely a single built form but a multivalent institution where the act of prayer is the main part of it together with social, cultural, educational and other activities related to the society.
[2] Nebahat Avcioglu, Identity-as-Form: The Mosque in the West, Columbia University Institute for Scholars, Paris, France

Thesis aim:

Revealing the meaning and the importance of the Mosque as an institution, space and expressive built form, through the development of the knowledge on understanding the meaning it conveys, the role it plays, and the way it is accepted in a diverse society. Questioning the relevance of symbolism and the typology of the Mosque in relation to identity, tradition and regionalism in the scope of advanced approaches in design and emerging technologies, through derivation of main concept and principles of a generic Mosque from the main principles of Islam.

Finding universal criteria for mosque design, as a space and institution, in a diverse and changing society. Finding principles for a universal expressive language of Mosque as a predominant Muslim architectural built form.

Synthesizing the cross-disciplinary approach at the point of Synergic Spaces, by using theories and design as tools for testing.

Questions with international relevance

• The role of the Mosque as institution, built form, space and expression in the Contemporary World.

• The meaning of the Mosque as institution and visual expression in Western Countries

• The importance of the mosque as Identifier of Muslim presence and Identity.

• The symbolism of the Mosque and its acceptance in non-Muslim contexts.

• Redefinition of mosque visual language based on basic concepts of Mosque as institution and multivalent space.

• Mosque in the scope of emerging technologies and advanced approaches in design.

• Mosque in the context of cultural diversity.

• Mosque in the socio-political and economical context.

The knowledge to be developed:

- Understanding the meaning of the Mosque as an institution, space and multivalent role player in the mainstream of everyday life of the Muslim society.

- Understanding the key concepts and their meaning of Mosque in space and time, in order to develop the necessary knowledge from these concepts which will set the Mosque in the stream of new approaches in design for the near future.

- Developing spatial and formal solutions through prominent generic concepts of Mosque, by testing and applying these conceptual-based solutions and in the same time evaluating in the overall cross-disciplinary approach, which will bring together in a solidified way the related and relevant fields and methods used in the cross disciplinary approach.

DEFINING THE MOSQUE' KEY CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

Defining the Mosque in the light of Islam – Kur'an and Hadith

Mosque in Kur'an:

IN THE HOUSES [of worship] which God has allowed to be raised so that His name be remembered in them, there [are such as] extol His limitless glory at morn and evening – (Kur'an, 24:36)

… unlike other religions the notion of sacred space does not apply to the Mosque.

Concept derived: A Mosque as a congregation point of the community.

The Idea of the Mosque from the Hadith

'I was not commanded to build high mosques'

…Thus, from the hadith we can understand that the idea of the mosque does not approach that of a monumental building meant for a single ritual worship act.

The Prophet's Mosque in Medina was used as a social, political and religious centre.

Concept derived: Mosque as a synergic space – Multiuse of space

We must approach the mosque not as a building for a single set of ritual worship but more of a kind of social centre.

Prayer and the Mosque

Prayer is universally accepted to be the basic reason for the existence of the mosque. Hence, this consist the most important function that the Mosque should cater for.

This space defining the mosque has to be suitable for prayer – clean as one prostrates with his face in this surface.

Concept derived: Cleanness of Space

The congregational prayer is performed in straight rows parallel to Kiblah wall.

The Prophet said, "Straighten your rows as the straightening of rows is essential for a perfect and correct prayer"

Concept derived: Rows of prayer

The Mosque and the Spatiality of Prayer

Several prophetic sayings, such as, “Wherever you pray, that place is a mosque,” and, “I have been given the whole earth as a sanctuary,” raise questions about how and why an identifiable mosque architecture emerged and developed. In its formal and compositional characteristics, the typical mosque remains an intriguing phenomenon that is at once simple and complex.

Concept derived: The importance and relevance of space vs. expression

Prayer as Visualization

Islamic prayer requires no tangible object, such as an icon or a statue, to induce a sense of divine presence and serve as a support for worship. Visual engagement is therefore unnecessary.

The only visual engagement it requires is that whereby Muslims orient themselves toward the Kiblah.

"And from whence-so-ever you start forth (for prayers) turn your face in the direction of (the Sacred Mosque of Mecca) Al-Masjid-ul Haram.."(Kur’an:2:149)

Concept derived: Directionality

From these definitions of Mosque under the light of Kur'an and Sunnah (two main sources of Islam), we conclude in these conceptual features of the Mosque which would serve as principles and criteria for generating the Mosque as a multivalent space and institution:

1. Directionality

2. Space

3. Cleanness of space

4. Rows of prayer (saffs)

5. Multiuse of space

Deriving a generic scheme for Mosque

Following the principles of the Mosque, one can generate universal criteria concerning Mosque as a space in different locations.

- Directionality and the City Grid

Finding a scheme that would fit in the different locations, hence flexible to be adopted and legible to show the directionality.

- Multiuse of space and infill in the city fabric

Finding a compromise in-between the flexible programmability of the mosque and the void-like situations in the City fabric, in this case the city of Berlin.

- Expressive and legible language of Mosque space both from outside and inside.

Finding a legible visual language, reminiscence to the past and suitable to generate flexible and variable systems in the scope of advanced design and emerging technologies.

Symbolism: A Critical Review

Image: © Martin Harvey/CORBIS

The Mosque reveals little correspondence between Muslim prayer ritual and the Mosque form (Kuban), hence Islam itself is prescriptive in behaviour, not in form (Grabar).

The symbolism of the mosque’s traditional architectural vocabulary is unique to Muslim culture and is uniquely identified with it.

The minaret, dome, gateway, and mihrab are all key elements of mosque architecture, even though most of these elements are latter additions and development from the Prophet’s mosque in Medina.

Highly diverse Muslim communities in the Western countries makes the problem of identity through a certain style even more complex, when all this spectrum wants to identify itself through stylistic expression in architecture of the Mosque.

By a cross-disciplinary approach on the Mosque as Space, Institution and Expressive built Form is aimed to understand and develop the knowledge to enhance further the concept of the Mosque as a social interaction space in a diverse society and the image the mosque should reveal through it’s meaning it conveys. A part of this Image is searching for a universal language legible to Muslim World that would develop the mosque not merely in aesthetics of it’s image but also as a meaning and purpose it fulfils in the near future in order to catch the changes in the society itself, approaches in design and advanced technologies.

Arabesque – Islamic patterns as generator of space, structure and form

“Ornament is the ultimate mediator, paradoxically questioning the value of meanings by channelling them into pleasure.” Oleg Grabar, ‘The Mediation of Ornament’

“Norms of beauty in the Arab-Islamic culture were autonomous, pleasure-oriented, and independent of moral and religious criteria”. Doris Behrens-Abouseif, ‘Beauty in the Arabic Culture’

The arabesque that consists of motifs from vegetal and floral world or purely geometrical patterns creates a definite visual language possessing both vocabulary and grammar. The Vocabulary of the mosque according to Ardalan reveals the aesthetic concepts and models of the parts of the mosque, constituting the forms, surface, patterns, colour selection and materials. While Grammar relates to various systems of organising these parts into a coherent whole within the framework of Islamic concepts of place making. Parts of the vocabulary and grammar have achieved, through accretion and evolution, highly charged symbolic meanings, while other parts of the language are very regionally bound.

Seeing Ornament in-between its aesthetics, its meaning and its high structural and tectonic potentials would allow to develop principles on Mosque design not merely as expressive form, which would question the symbolism and would bridge the gap between any specific stylistic or historical approach, tradition and identity.

From the Generic scheme of Mosque, going through the relevance of typology in the mosque development spatially and temporally I derive the generic Space of the mosque from the criteria I already set (directionality, multiuse, etc)

The House and Mosque of the Prophet at Medina built in 622 C. E. (left) Cordoba Mosque, Image:© Fernando Alda/CORBIS (right)

Through examining the spatial characteristics of the Mosque of Prophet in Medina which reveals a prayer hall in a hypostyle model, one concludes that this scheme provides a suitable ambience for praying, through the sense of neutrality, nonprocession, repose, and equilibrium it reveals, allowing every point in the space to be a centre of equal significance. In this respect,”Grabar observes, “the early mosque was a remarkably modern building which could be expanded and contracted according to the needs of the community.”

Relevance of adopting hypostyle space generated Mosque

- the Mosque space could be expanded and contracted according to the needs of the community

- this scheme provides a nonhierarchical, neutral, allowing every point in the space to be a centre of equal significance

- the modular scheme would be suitable for orientation of the Kiblah grid in the city grid

- the modules can fill the ‘voids’ in the city fabric by not merely occupying space but rather integrating it in a usable space

- the redundancy of this system would allow a programmatically flexible space, negotiating the space in-between different uses and functions

Relevance of using Islamic Patterns - Ornaments as structural components in the hypostyle space generated Mosque

- Islamic patterns seen even in a two dimensions reveal a high potential for structural and tectonic capabilities of component-space formation through modularity and tessellation.

- The modularity of these ornaments fits with the modular - hypostyle scheme.

- Moreover Islamic patterns are universally recognised embodiments of Mosque architecture,

- Such an approach with critical consideration of ornament in-between meaning and it’s exactness would bridge the gap of historicisms in term of different stylistic approaches and tendency for identity through Mosque architecture.

- As identity gets so complex to be expressed from different cultures through a single architectural built form, the point of finding a universal neutral language comes in the forefront.

Ornametns - Islamic Patterns

Criteria on selecting Islamic patterns:

- Structural and tectonic potentials

- Potentials of three dimensionality and dissolution in ornamentation

- Potentials of variations

- Potentials of tiling and diffusing in modular multiplicity

- Universally legible Islamic patterns (not just locally)

Geometric Islamic Patterns

Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Image: © Yang Liu/CORBIS

Vegetal and Floral Islamic Patterns

Sidi Saiyed mosque

stunning stone tracery in carved windows (jaali)

image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/payalvora/923169499/in/set-72157601262996617/

Arabesque - Islamic Calligraphy

Islamic pattern as Gerneric of Modular-Component Space

Deriving a 3D Component from a 2D Islamic Pattern

Space and ornament

Using the Modularity of Ornamentation to show the Directionality

Case Studies Mosque - Space vs. Expression

Struggling for Space

In most of the cases in Berlin Mosques are relegated to leftover or marginal locations. They often recycle otherwise unwanted spaces, in particular, defunct industrial sites. First tucked away in small backyards locations, many mosques eventually upgraded to smaller or larger industrial facilities. Hence, this shows the challenge of the Mosque as a space and as an expression.

From the three case studies of Mosques in Berlin- Neukolln, two of them are in a similar urban context and are similar for that they are integrated residential buildings or former industrial buildings, while the third one is a Mosque designed in Classical Ottoman Style in a open are near Tempelhof Airport.

The first case is interesting because reveals the multiuse of the mosque as space and institution in verticality while lacking any visual appearance that would show that somewhere is a mosque.

The second one provides just the space for prayer which again serves for different purposes (lectures, teaching the Kur’an, religious and social activities) while lacking any visual expression from outside.

The third case shows a Mosque that reveals both the spaces and the expressive appearance. This case shows a singular approach of one community (Turkish) that conceived the mosque as an Identity sign of their presence in Berlin.

Such an approach has at first discredited the Mosque as a developable and progressive built form and has opened wide discussion in the local residents and politics in terms of acceptance of these Mosques in Berlin and generally in Western Countries.

Pre- conclusion:

Understanding the changes that occurred in Muslim society and are occurring nowadays will highlight the task of the Mosque and bring it to a tangible solution. The cross-disciplinary approach it’s necessary to ground the knowledge and bring different fields and disciplines to the point of the Mosque as Synergic spaces always tested through the Design guidelines as tools for evaluation and deriving criteria.