In Qatar’s unrelenting desert climate, a green and cool oasis of contemplation offers a new meeting point for women. It successfully proposes a new interpretation of the traditional elements and geometric order of a mosque. The task itself is novel: The Al-Mujadilah Center on the western border of the Education City is the first mosque in the Islamic world designed exclusively for women. With its learning facility, is intended to contribute to the advancement and integration of women. It was initiated by Her Highness, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation and designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The campus of the Education City features numerous universities and the National Library, designed by OMA.
Resembling a sand dune, the roof surface of the centre, clad in Omani marble panels, rises upward, facing the west. It seems to hover above the park landscape with its chessboard structure on the fringes of the Qatari capital city of Doha. From a design perspective, its point of origin is a typical prayer rug measuring 70 × 125 cm, adorned with traditional Arab ornaments. The architects abstracted this pattern and enlarged it to a width of 20 m and length of 35 m – offering sufficient space for 750 faithful occupants inside the prayer hall. The flooring was woven in one piece and shaven by hand. Diller Scofidio + Renfro transfer its textile appeal into the roof, where 5488 cylindrical skylights provide homogeneous natural lighting that recalls the partial shade underneath a loosely woven reed mat. At night, LED rings radiate their lustre from within the cylinders. The only visible cue on how the structure was designed is provided by eight column pairs of curved organic shape placed at intervals of 10 to 15 m. They support eight main beams consisting of steel – concealed by the 1 m deep roof construction – spanning across the 25 m wide hall and cantilevering outward by up to 10 m.
At a closer look, the curved roof appears to recede into the garden landscape of the surrounding open spaces. An aerial view reveals the overall concept: The rectangular roof measuring 62 × 89 m follows an east-west axis. The interiors beneath it and the bordering open spaces are organised according to a grid rotated by 17 degrees to the southwest – precisely oriented towards Mecca. The longitudinal roof perimeter in the north and south are 5.50 m tall. On the eastern side, the cantilevering roof edge descends at its midpoint to 3.15 m above the ground. From here, the curved roof plate rises straightly along its central axis to a height of 12.90 m in the west. Superimposed with the 17 degree rotation, the result is a prayer hall of ascending height, symmetrical to the qibla wall, inside an asymmetrical complex of thrilling appeal.
The qibla wall comprises a reinforced concrete construction clad in travertine panels and features an undulating geometry. This new interpretation of the traditional mihrab prayer niche vertically extends outward in a shape resembling a funnel. An aperture in the roof allows zenithal grazing light to flow into this area of the partially shaded hall, the most important in liturgical terms. Above the pulpit of the minbar, the qibla wall also bulges outward, yet in opposite direction, from top to bottom. An oval interior courtyard with two olive trees separates the prayer hall from the multifunctional learning zone. Here, a retractable stage and modular seating are available for lectures, seminars, and workshops. During Ramadan, the floor is covered by an extension of the great carpet, allowing altogether 1300 faithful observants to pray in the complex at the same time. The lateral spaces comprise the lounge reserved to Her Highness, rooms for purposes of ritual purification, a café, and classrooms. They feature an open character with full-height glazing oriented to the open spaces. The partition walls, containing cabinetry and climate control technology, are separated from the continuous ceiling surface by clerestory windows. As a counterpoint to the contemplative character of the horizontal roof landscape, Diller Scofidio + Renfro designed the minaret in a more ostentatiously sculptural manner. In the past, the muezzin had to climb steep stairs to announce the call to prayer five times per day. Today, loudspeakers extend from their stations in the ground and rise to the top of the 39 m tall tensegrity structure, broadcasting the call by electronic means.
