Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies.
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Houghton Jumuah Mosque / Abdel Wahed El Wakil + Muhammad Mayet Architects
Architects:
Abdel Wahed El-Wakil
Location: Houghton, Johannesburg,
South Africa
Project Team: Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muhammad Mayet Architects
Interior Décor: Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muhammad Mayet Architects
Project Year: 2015
Photographer: Wianelle Photography
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- 26 April 2016
- Edwin Seda
- Sustainability , Religious Centres , Selected Works , Editor's Choice , Materials ,
The Houghton Mosque design sees an eclectic and hallowed collaboration between Muhammad Mayet Architects + Urban Designers and the acclaimed Abdel Wahed el Wakil.
The mosque, envisioned in 1998 when Saudi royals visited the country and expressed to Nelson Mandela the desire to contribute a piece of legacy to the area has been the subject of careful and integral urban design decisions and religious tenets in an area with so much history.
It was a building that needed to express the faith of Islam with the same contemporary vigor that the tradition has generated from one generation to another whilst still maintaining its core and fundamental tenets of religious significance. The mosque has all the elements of Islamic Architecture that one would expect, with adaptation to the Highveld climate and its immediate contextual requirements.
Sourced Editorial: Shaakira Chohan
The quality of space and light is truly unbelievable. Successful architecture, I believe, evokes the right emotion through spatial elements and architectural definitions. In this space, one feels pure, redeemed, accessible, faithful, and welcomed, irrespective of religious affiliation. The detailing is immaculate, staying ‘true to its materiality’ which is an essential part of Islamic Architecture.
Visible from the busiest highway in the southern hemisphere, the M1, the site comprises 1.4 hectares. The mosque is just phase one of an ambitious plan to construct an Islamic centre complete with library, auditorium and conference centre. The mosque will accommodate 2 000 people, and the upstairs section will be exclusively for women.
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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© Houghton Mosque_Wianelle Photgraphy Abdel Wahed...
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© Houghton Mosque_Wianelle Photgraphy Abdel Wahed...
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© Houghton Mosque_Wianelle Photgraphy Abdel Wahed...
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SELECTED WORKS
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As I shake Peter Rich's hand and ask him whether he is now retired, he smirks and stares back almost semi insulted "I'm too young. I am j...
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The villas of Praia do Estoril are located in a privileged area of Sal-Rei, on the island of Boavista in Cape Verde. They have an excep...
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- Nubian Museum / Mahmoud El-Hakim
- 10 Apr 2016
The Nubian Museum celebrates the culture and civilization of the Nubian region of Egypt from prehistoric times to the present. It is loca...
CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIRECTORY
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- The Reserve House / Metropole Architects
- 14 Jan 2017
The reserve house is a piece of architecture that plays duality in its design. Propped up in Forestwood on the Dolphin coast, the house r...
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- Bosjes Chapel / Steyn Studio
- 15 May 2017
The new chapel, set within a vineyard in South Africa, is designed by South-African born Coetzee Steyn of London-based Steyn Studio. Its ...
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The Central African State of Rwanda, commonly known as the "land of a thousand hills", is rarely the focus of West European interests. On...
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