The man behind the mosque

HATAM'S DUBAI MOSQUE PROJECT

By making such a dominant statement with the dome, Hatam was left with the difficult conundrum of how to incorporate the cube. “[Extending the dome to the ground] forced the cube section underground, which then created an enormous space, which would ultimately become the Islamic museum.”

The mosque’s calligraphy-clad glass minaret captures the five pillars of Islam as it begins with darkly shaded glass near the bottom, which becomes progressively lighter as it moves toward the top—a gesture meant to symbolise the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah. “The closer it gets to Hajj, the more transparent it becomes—almost as though it dissolves into the sky.”

After extensive research into minarets, Hatam determined that his minaret needed to be a focal point. “After the first adhan [person who summons followers to prayer] used to do it from the streets, people soon realised they needed a high point to project the sound further. Adhans needed something from which to project their calling. That’s how the palm tree became the first minaret,” explains Hatam. From the inception of the project he also realised a second role for the minaret. “I interpreted [the minaret] as an opportunity for learning, which is why I designed it to include the 99 names of God.”

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Incorporating Islam
Owing to the fact that the Holy Quran is the most important element in Islam and that it contains 30 chapters, Hatam divided the building envelope into 30 distinct segments, which capture the writing of the Quran on the glass between the structural elements. Despite being an unparalleled way of incorporating the Quran into the building, like anything that blazes a trail, it came with a separate set of challenges.  

“We had to be extremely careful so that the shadow wouldn’t be cast on the ground where people would walk on it,” explains Hatam. “We conducted an enormous amount of research into how the sun would enter the building.”

In an effort to pay homage once again to the five pillars of Islam, Hatam divided his dome in five distinct sections. “We’ve got the male prayer area; the female prayer area; a centre of learning which, again, is divided into male and female sections; the ceremonial access you use to enter and exit; and then there’s the minaret, which is more like a sculpture,” he says.

Hatam also used the ceremonial access to incorporate the learning metaphor into his structural façades. The calligraphy adorning both entrances and exits of the mosque says, Bisim Allah el rahman ir rahim, or ‘In the name of God’, which also functions to filter natural light into the building. “In a very metaphoric way, it’s like when you’re holding a book in your hand. Both sides are the covers and inside you find the knowledge,” says Hatam.

But, the style of the calligraphy only came about after a 3-month course on the subject. “When writing [calligraphy], your hand becomes weightless and is no longer controlled by your head; it’s controlled by your heart,” says Hatam. “To understand the way light would filter through the Arabic words, I had to understand calligraphy and how it could be interpreted.”
Much like the calligraphy itself, Hatam’s mosque is the product of something more than client specifications and site planning. “This mosque came from the heart. There was no brief for this; there was no client; that’s what makes it so unique.”