Excerpt: Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Mosque is a religious architecture project designed by SHATOTTO architecture for green living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A key feature derived from the Mughal Mosque was the “Shaan” – an extended open-to-sky terrace attached to the main hall’s entrance. Here Shaan has been introduced as the “THRESHOLD SPACE,” which connects and divides the noisy terrestrial road on the south and the silent, celestial graveyard on the north.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Mosque: A Threshold Space
Located adjacent to the Azimpur graveyard in Lalbagh, a historical area established by the Mughals over 400 years ago, the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Mosque is having a 16,500 sft land area belonging to the Dhaka South City Corporation. The design philosophy is inspired by two mosques, Khan Mohammad Mridha and Azam Shah Mosque built by the Mughals. A key feature derived from the Mughal Mosque was the “Shaan” – a type of extended open-to-sky terrace attached to the entrance of the main hall.
The Shaan provides additional space to accommodate large numbers of devotees during larger gatherings such as the Jummah prayer on Fridays, Eid prayers and other special occasions. Any other time, it acts as a social hub for the community. Here Shaan has been introduced as the “THRESHOLD SPACE” which is connecting and dividing the terrestrial noisy road on the south and silent, celestial graveyard on the north. People entering the Shaan connects the view of the graveyard framed by a bridge of glass. The other important aspect of the mosque is its use of brick. For many thousands of years, the Bengal civilization is significant for wonderful architecture by bricks. So, the use of the brick along with traditional spatial typology is an effort to create nothing but a MISSING LINK.
The project is a 02-storied building where the total floor area covers 32,200 sft. The Basement floor is a common parking area, which includes maintenance office, a mortuary chamber and other service. The mosque complex is basically designed with two blocks connected with a bridge at first floor. Public entry through a open “Shaan” also give space for 300 persons prayer. The west block accommodates 726 persons serves as the male prayer hall, onwards the East block have separate ablution spaces for male and female on ground floor and female prayer space with employee’s dorm on the first floor. The lift core also acts as the Mosque Minerate at top.
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