AL_A has won an invited competition to design a new mosque in Abu Dhabi. The Mosque is part of the World Trade Centre developed by Aldar Properties, one of the largest developers in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The practice’s proposals see the new 2,000m² mosque and park as an escape from the immediate context of the vertiginous steel and glass of the World Trade Centre and provide a focal point of worship for its inhabitants.
Ho-Yin Ng, Director of AL_A said:
“The Mosque is envisaged as a piece of the city, one that reflects the journey from the temporal to the spiritual. Set 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.
“Inside, shafts of light penetrate the roof of the prayer hall. This daylight, dappled or dramatic, animates the space and activates the senses.”
The World Trade Centre Abu Dhabi, design by Foster + Partners, is a 700,000m² fully integrated mixed-use facility comprised of offices, residences, a mall, a souk and a hotel.
