2.06.2008

BIG Bat Mosque

This video shows the design process and proposal for the first ever Mosque to be built in Denmark. Designed by BIG, Bjarke Ingels Group, the Mosque attempts to facilitate both the demands of the local Muslims and the contextual demands of life in Copenhagen.

3 comments:

Davey D said...

Pretty amazing building concept... Then again, here's something a little cloying about the idea of maxing out your available zoned space, like laws are the only important things in community building. It's a spectacular look, but frankly it's pretty domineering of the cityscape. Then again, so's Alhambra

Is that what urban planners worry about, Prolly?

Prolly said...

I'm a big fan of buildings that are derived from contextual influences. Cross-city views and having that much public space at the ground level is important.

Too many buildings are ignorant of foot traffic. Keeping the facade porous and allowing for different flows at the urban scale are essential to any context.

[I'm also not a advocate of urban nostalgia.]

Unknown said...

Agreed on the foot traffic consideration. Like Rem Koolhaas's students center at IIT, I love that he looked at the traffic patterns that previously went through the space and designed around that.

I think the concept of filling all available zoned space in this way is a great way to bring to light this aspect of design. After all, this has been done for ages just in a less explicit way (tiered style of NYC skyscrapers, Mies van der Rohe's Seagram building/plaza). Maybe using zoning laws as the primary guiding feature is not the best method for the overall design of a community building, but given the current state of design, I like seeing a different of thinking about it.