The Beautiful Shah Faisal Mosque Islamabad
The Shah Faisal Mosque is in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is the National mosque of Pakistan and one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world. This beautiful mosque was designed by renowned Turkish Architect, vedat Dalokay and named after the late King faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is spread over 1, 89,705 sq meter with 88 meter high minarets and 40 meters high main prayer hall. The main prayer hall can accommodate 10, 000 persons while the covered porticos and verandahs can take over 24, 000 worshipers. The main courtyard has space for 40,000 people.
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| Shah faisal Mosque Islamabad |
History
The Faisal Mosque is the 2nd largest mosque in the world and its site was chosen by the president of Pakistan, Marshal Ayub Khan. Where the purpose of choosing this site was to make a modern city distinct from those of the past. Where it located at the north of the city’s main approach Shahrah-e-Islamabad against the backdrop and at the foot of the picturesque Margalla hill. Therefore, it created a focal point of the capital, to command the entire panorama of the city and to ensure visibility during day and night.
Description
The master plan of the city Islamabad was inspired by the Greek architecture. The plan is triangular and is developed on a grid system with its apex towards the Margalla hills.
The region 351 square miles is divided into eight functional zone, these zones are, Administrative sector, Diplomatic Enclave, commercial zones, forest belt, national park area, residential sector, special institutions, industrial zone. The mosque got named when king Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz, king of Saudi Arabia, visited Pakistan and like the idea of the mosque then bear the expenditures as a gift to the people of Pakistan.
Design
The concept that Dalokay achieved in the king Faisal mosque was to present the mosque as a crown for the modern capital, Islamabad. Where he developed his concept based on Quranic guidelines. The context, modernity, monumentality and a valuable heritage from resent generation to the coming ones all are the main design consideration that help Dalokay to achieve in the king Faisal mosque. Moreover, the mosque is not close with a boundary walls as any other mosques, but instead it’s an open too the land. The dome in his design was unusual, where he used an Arabic tend design instead of having a dome to resemble and to be an extension of the Margalla Hills.
Theme
The geometric concept was taken from the Kaa’ba. As Dalokay said “The main theme in the design of Shah Faisal mosque is the joy of living” (Metu Jfa, 2005).Dalokay started the layout strategy taking in consideration the main two axial to the city, where the main building of the mosque is organized symmetrically. Also, a large fountain raised on a plat form leads to the entrance in the east preceded by a main courtyard.
