CONTEMPORARY PLACE OF WORSHIP

THE MOSQUE OF THE LATE ABDULKHALIQ GARGASH IN DUBAI, THE FIRST IN THE UAE TO BE DESIGNED BY A FEMALE ARCHITECT, IS A CONFLUENCE OF VARIED DESIGN ELEMENTS.

Dabbagh Architects, led by Principal Architect and Founder, Sumaya Dabbagh, has designed the Mosque of the Late Mohamed Abdulkhaliq Gargash (Dubai, UAE), a contemporary place of worship that is quietly masterful in its use of form, materiality, and controlled natural light to evoke a sense of calm, spiritual connection, and to transition the worshiper from the outer material world to an inner sense of being.

CREATING A TRANSITION

As a gift to the community, and in honour of the late patriarch of the family, Mohamed Abdulkhaliq Gargash, the Gargash family’s brief was to create a minimal contemporary mosque, a calm and spiritual space for prayer for the community of the Al Quoz, the industrial heart of Dubai.

Committed to supporting local industries, and in keeping with the practice’s sustainable approach to design, Dabbagh Architects sourced materials from the mosque’s locality: stone from Oman while concrete, aluminium, cladding, joinery and ceramics from the UAE.

At the heart of the design approach is the enhancement of the act of worship, and a transitional journey throughout the building so that the worshiper is ready for prayer and feels a sense of intimacy with the sacred.

“Through the design, a series of spaces are created that allow the worshiper to transition from the busy outer world and prepare for an inner experience,” says Sumaya, one of the few Saudi female architects of her generation.

LIGHT AS A TOOL

Natural light is used as a tool to boost a feeling of spirituality, the connection between the earthly and the divine, and to mark the worshiper’s journey through the building. Scale also plays a role in creating this sense of sacredness.