Thursday, 28 November 2013

Project 2: Case Study National Mosque Malaysia

In this project we carry out a case study of local mosque to understand the application of 7 Principles of Islamic Architecture on Mosque design. We carried out research on National Mosque and interviews on tourists and local workers.
Members: Chong Kai Cheng, Tan Hwa Jie, Lee Wan Teen, Lee Huey Ling.
















INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Tourist (Romania)

Q:        What is the most unique feature of the mosque?

A:        The look of the building. The patterns on the panels look good. The reason I come here is it feels good.

Q:        The ambiance of the place?

A:        The water content (water body) and the building make people feel good.

Q:        How you perceive the space (how do you feel) in the main hall?

A:        The open space makes people feels free. The ornament and texture is beautiful. I feel calm and peaceful in the building. Every mosque I visited has the same feeling.


Tourist (Australia)

Q:        Is this your first visit to this mosque?

A:        Yes, this is my first time.

Q:        What do you feel in this mosque?

A:        I’m from Melbourne, Australia. Unfortunately we don’t have mosque as big and as beautiful as this, the mosques in Melbourne are load smaller. There is one mosque in Melbourne is a bit bigger than others, but not quite as big and as beautiful as this mosque, so I really enjoy visiting this mosque. The scale of the building, the wideness of the space, the beautiful fences and beautiful image u can take around, so everything is pretty much 10 out of 10.

Q:        What is your feeling and experience walking through the building?

A:        I feel very spiritual, if I’m a Muslim, this will put a really big smile on my face that we have such beautiful places like this around the world that u can go in and meet other Muslims and praying, I will feel very good inside.

Q:        What is the most unique part of the mosque?

A:        Everything, even the place you wash before you pray. There is enough room for hundreds and thousands of people go in to wash themselves and come in there. The place is shaded very well. The wide of the zone and the inside of the hall is very beautiful.  

Volunteer Worker (Chinese Philippine)

A:        There are two umbrella in the mosque design, one is opened and another is closed. And there is another one at the back which is semi-opened. So the meaning of this concept of the design of the masjid is we need an umbrella to protect ourselves from the sun and from the rain, so this is something like we are under the god protection. So that is the concept of the masjid design.

Q:        So how long have u been working here?

A:        I have been working here for two month and I am a volunteer. Actually I am a Chinese Philippine but I convert to Islam, I am still learning, I am telling you whatever I know, if there is anything that u guys are not sure about then have to ask my brothers, they know more than me. I hope this few information will help you guys in your assignment.

Q:        It helps a lot! Thank you so much!

A:        You are welcome.

Volunteer Worker (Malay)

A: In your point of view, what is the most unique feature of the mosque?

A: I think the most unique feature about the mosque is the dome. Because the normally when you talk about mosque is always represented by a dome. But here the dome is special because it looks like a semi-opened umbrella so this is the main difference. I think maybe this is the only mosque in the world having this kind of dome. Maybe according what I was told, when the architect designing this building, they said we always associate Malaysia with rain, and of course we always using umbrella, so that is how their idea semi-opened umbrella comes.

Q: So other than this, do you find any special elements of this mosque?

A: So basically when you talk about a mosque is always u need a big space for people to come and communicate and also some other features like we have a lot of opened spaces between allay area so that is the main idea, so that u can get the feeling of peacefulness in the mosque.

Q: Ok, so thank you so much!

A: You are welcome, is my pleasure.




Personal review:

The most interesting feature of National Mosque is the folded plate dome, different from any other Mosque which is represented by round dome. The concept of having an umbrella-like dome is to symbolize the protection under Allah, similar to umbrella provides shelter from rain water. The proportion of the Mosque is very balance and creates the feeling of harmony.  The Mosque surrounded by beautiful garden and the geometry wall screen panel express the principle of Haya, provides privacy to the Mosque interior. The water huge main prayer hall is a gather place for Muslim to pray and it reflected the principle of Tawhid, Unity. The wall pattern and the sculpture of Arabic calligraphy show the principle of Ikhlas and Ilm. The repeating columns create a rhythmic continuation, showing the principle of Dikr, a remembrance of Allah. The space is very spiritual with the texture and ornament, the light and shadow from the screen wall and the peacefulness of the combination of water body, Mosque and garden. I really enjoy the quality of the space and very much appreciate the well design of the National Mosque.  

No comments:

Post a Comment