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.

Houghton Jumuah Mosque / Abdel Wahed El Wakil + Muhammad Mayet Architects

Architects: Abdel Wahed El-Wakil Muhammad Mayet Architects + Urban Designers
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

- 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.

Houghton Jumuah Mosque / Abdel Wahed El Wakil + Muhammad Mayet Architects

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.

Houghton Jumuah Mosque / Abdel Wahed El Wakil + Muhammad Mayet Architects

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.

Houghton Jumuah Mosque / Abdel Wahed El Wakil + Muhammad Mayet Architects

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.

Houghton Jumuah Mosque / Abdel Wahed El Wakil + Muhammad Mayet Architects

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...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
- © Houghton Mosque Abdel Wahed El Wakil and Muham...
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- © Houghton Mosque_Wianelle Photgraphy Abdel Wahed...
- © Houghton Mosque_Wianelle Photgraphy Abdel Wahed...
- © Houghton Mosque_Wianelle Photgraphy Abdel Wahed...

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