Structural Ideas

First attempt to realise the entire structure as a geodesic‐dome, built with triangular shapes.

The triangular shapes for the geodesic‐dome could be made of panels of plastic; in the centre of every panel there is a hemisphere of the same material. If you put two panels together you get a sphere. The edges of the triangle are the connecting elements.

The construction of the geodesic‐dome is self‐supporting because of the specific arrangement of the triangles. Due to the dimensions of the mosque and of the spheres, we get five different sizes of triangles, and, of course, also five different sizes of spheres. Although the spheres touch each other, there are resulting bigger „holes“ in the centre as expected. The yellow marked sphere shows the idea to fill these „holes“ with another sphere.

The orthogonal walls oft he mosque could be realised with the same construction method as the geodesic‐dome. Dividing the walls in triangles, all the spheres have the same size, the resultant pattern is very similar tot he pattern oft he geodesic‐dome.

Another possibility for the construction of the walls is to take squares instead of triangular shapes. The pattern you get of squares is more regular, this way more balls fit in the structure than in the construction idea above.

The two systems have also different numbers of balls or spheres:
- the dome is composed of 360 triangles and that means 360 spheres.
- the walls with the triangular structure are made of 114 elements, the four sides are thus composed of 456 spheres.
- with the square elements we get 136 spheres, equaling 544 spheres on all four sides!

Some images that show how the entire mosque could look like…..

Triangular‐shaped elements for the walls














Rendering














Square‐shaped elements for the walls














Rendering

First Presentation 01/2009

The Project Outline

The idea for a project of a temporary and floating mosque was born last summer during an international workshop in Venice considering that this city was lacking a similar structure. The intense public discourse going on to this very topic meant finding an understanding of the complex constellation between art, culture and architecture. The heritage of Venetian
architecture is a heritage of Islamic architecture.

This encouraged the development of the initial idea and shaped the floating mosque as a cultural, intercultural gathering point, making a new world within the compounds of Venice. The process of transformation of places like Venice today has the ability to underline the emblematic changes ongoing in the European society. In this context the floating mosque in Venice shall underline the change of paradigms within this setting.

Based on the classical tradition of mosques, with a courtyard, the patio, and the dome shaped structure on a square foot print and the minaret, being the classical elements, the project needed a contemporary transformation to underline the paradigm change.
In the context of the theme of the art Biennale – Making Worlds – this (inter-)cultural installation made of balls, gym balls, which are easily available on themarket, that will be distributed to the residents of Venice after the venue, in the sense that every body is part of this installation (everybody is part of this newworld) – the floating mosque of Venice is an example of this ‘world making’ The reuse of the balls, by distributing them to the people responds to the sustainable aspect of this installation.

The project will be developed by the work collaborative “A Mosque for Venice”,between the Dutch architects I.N.D. Inter National Design, Arman Akdogan & Felix Madrazo, the Austrian studio architecture & communication, Dustin A. Tusnovics and Venice based architect Wael Farhat.



Moschea Galleggiante di Venezia
L’idea per il progetto di una moschea (in questo caso temporanea e galleggiante) è nata l’estate scorsa, durante un workshop internazionale a Venezia, partendo dalla considerazione che la città manca di una tale struttura.
L’intenso dibattito pubblico in corso su questo argomento stimula la curiositàa sviluppare una consapevolezza, anche attraverso la costellazione complessa di arte, cultura ed architettura. In particolare, l’eredità dell’architettura veneziana è fortemente legata all’architettura islamica.
Questo ha incoraggiato lo sviluppo dell’idea iniziale e ha dato forma allamoschea galleggiante come luogo di cultura e di incontro tra le culture, creando un nuovo mondo all’interno dei confini della città. Il processo di trasformazione di luoghi come Venezia può avere oggi la capacità di interpretare gli emblematici cambiamenti della società europea ein questo contesto la moschea galleggiante vuole sottolineare questo cambio di paradigmi tanto visibile nella polis contemporanea.
Basato sulla millenaria tradizione formale della moschea, con il patio, lacorte interna, la struttura a cupola su una base quadrata ed il minareto, il progetto è plasmato tuttavia con un oggetto contemporaneo e quotidiano, una voluta contraddizione adottata al fine di rendere "vicino" quello che per molti è ancora un oggetto estraneo e misterioso.
In armonia con il tema della prossima Biennale d'arte – Fare Mondi – questa istallazione (inter-) culturale verrà realizzata con palle ginniche facilmente reperibili sul mercato, che saranno distribuite ai residenti di Venezia al termine della manifestazione, creando la consapevolezza che tutti fanno parte di questo oggetto tanto misterioso. Così la moschea galleggiante di Venezia diventa un esempio concreto di come "fare mondi".
Il riutilizzo dei palloni, che verranno distribuiti alla gente, risponde all’esigenzadi realizzare un'installazione sostenibile.

Il progetto sarà realizzato dagli architetti olandesi IND [Inter National Design]:
Arman Akdogan & Felix Madrazo, dallo studio austriaco architecture & communication di Dustin A. Tusnovics e dall’architetto Wael Farhat, temporaneamente riuniti in “A Mosque for Venice”.

The initial project outline

The idea for a project of a temporary and floating mosque was born last summer during an international workshop in Venice considering that this city was lacking a similar structure. The intense public discourse going on to this very topic meant finding an understanding of the complex constellation between art, culture and architecture. The heritage of Venetian architecture is a heritage of Islamic architecture.

in collaboration with:

IND
Arman Akdogan & Felix Madrazo
www.internationaldesign.nl
Wael Farhat
architect, Venice
Dustin A. Tusnovics
architecture & communication