MOSKA

OPEN COMPETITION, 3RD PRIZE 2015

description

When it came to designing a new mosque in Reykjavík, there were two major considerations – the direction to Mecca and a restricted building line towards the street.

In the centre of the city, between the popular outdoor areas Laugardalur and Elliðaárdalur, the building sits in a green field at the bottom of a dead-end street. The structure is simple in geometry and modest in its surroundings, with a subtle calmness that nonetheless calls attention and arouses curiosity. Only when approached does the building reveal its true nature. The entrance is through a triangular garden open to the sky, enclosed by a hovering concrete wall and a glass façade with Islamic calligraphic patterns.

The journey through the building, from arrival to the worship area, is through a series of spaces varying in size and shape. The building leads the visitor from one space to the next and creates a certain anticipation while maintaining a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

A bright and open staircase leads from the reception to the upper floor, where you enter an area with a ceiling height of between six and seven metres, filled with daylight filtered through a large, translucent glass façade. From there you enter both the auditorium and the worship area, which can be joined together to form one large space. The qibla wall is slightly more transparent than the other walls on the upper floor, allowing indirect light into the worship area. A tree outside the window acts as a focus point.

The outer shell is made of raw concrete, matt and rough on the outside but smooth and polished on the inside of the atrium gardens. A large, polished cube of cut basalt supports the cantilevering concrete shell. The lower floor of the inner shell is made with clear, glazed façades facing the two triangular gardens. The upper floor of the inner shell is covered with decorated matt glass panels on the walls and ceilings. The glass panels cover all walls and ceilings on the upper floor, with an Islamic calligraphic pattern sandblasted on top, referencing the ornamentation of traditional mosques.

Team

Andri Gunnar Lyngberg Andrésson, Guðni Valberg, Jón Davíð Ásgeirsson

Collaborators

Bastian Bajer, Anna Dröfn Ágústsdóttir, Ágúst Skorri Sigurðsson

Location

Reykjavík, Iceland

Size

770 m2