Cairo Festival City Main Mosque (New Cairo, Egypt)
International Competition – 3rd Prize

جُعِلَتْ لِي الْأَرْضُ مَسْجِدًا
Prophet Mohamed (pbuh): Land was made a mosque for me. He wanted to tell Muslims they can pray not only in mosques, but also everywhere. They can pray at home, at work, where they study, where they train… etc. Looking at those words the other way round, a deeper meaning can be reached as regards to how we look at the mosque. Not only a place for worshipping, a mosque should be representing an Islamic Community (i.e. a place for worshipping, reading, learning, discussion and communicating…etc), all that goes because in Islam there is no contradiction between worshipping, working, learning, communicating, and all other aspects of life. This was emphasized by giving the mosque its 4 courts attached to the sky: • Men’s praying court. • Women’s praying court. • Library. • A Studying center. The Library is not just for religious books, it contains books in other aspects of life and sciences. The Studying Center where Quran is being taught also includes centers for studying other sciences, arts and languages (and that would make a child more attached to the mosque). The men’s praying court represents all the ground floor. The other 3 courts represent only part of the mezzanine floor. And finally, a glass universal structure overlaying the whole 4 courts, so that the 4 courts are attached to the sky. The Islamic philosophy links Life to After-Life. In other words, a person’s acts in life, will eventually decide his fate in the after-life. So Earth and Heaven are linked to one another in Islam. The mosque Orientation is considered as an important issue. • The direction of praying is towards Mecca (the Qibla). • The link between (Land and Sky ….. Earth and Heaven ….. Life and After-Life) was emphasized by the glass universal structure oriented towards the sky exposing it (the sky) to all the 4 courts representing the mosque.

Location: CFC, New-Cairo, Egypt
Date: Aug 2013 – Oct 2013
Client: Al Futtaim Real Estate Development S.A.E
Stage of Development: International Competition (3rd Prize)