Dubai Creek Mosque | Design Competition Entry

Design Brief :
Dubai Creek Harbour occupies the ideal Dubai location. Only 10 minutes' drive from Downtown
Dubai and 15 minutes away from Dubai International Airport, residents and visitors alike will have seamless access to two major Dubai roads, Al Khail Road and Ras Al Khor Road.
At the shore of Dubai Creek is the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the few protected urban areas in the world, home to flocks of pink flamingos and 450 other animal species. Residents and visitors will be able to enjoy life in an ideal location close to water and nature in remarkable surroundings.

Concept:

 99 names of Allah :

The Dubai Creek Mosque design was inspired by creating a building that can play with the concept of light and shadow, the feeling of being elevated through light (God is light) was rendered through

creating perforated elements (Allah’s 99 names) which will cast their light inwards throughout the day to the worshipers as they pray, the light of the names will appear on them.
At night on the other hand those elements (Allah’s 99 names) will light outwards so the people outside the mosque can see them.

The Half Dome Massing :

The  overall massing of the Mosque was designed as a half dome, for two reasons; the first was to allow the people approaching the main entrance of the mosque to be able to see the names lighting through the inside before entering the mosque itself through the full glass elevation, the second reason is to play with the idea of allowing several floor accesses inside and out, creating more viewing  opportunities towards the interior of the mosque and the Dubai Creek Scenery creating more of a vertical circulation concept.

The Movable shaders with Qur’an verses:

The movable shaders which are cut into four different sections, each perforated with a different verse from the Qur’an, is a novel design where the mosque can comply with the different shadow opportunities through the day (5 prayers, Sun (Thuhur, Aser, Maghreb)), creating an effect in different times of the prayers where one can see a verse though the shadow casted on the outdoor area plaza of the mosque. By the time of Aser one can see all three verses complete.