Darus Salaam Islamic Centre

A passively cooled mosque and Islamic centre, built as a live drawing board with local artisans.

The brief

A mosque with an Islamic education centre, beside the Tshwane Muslim School that the practice had planned and built in earlier phases.

The idea

The plan follows the principles of Aziz Tayob's 1969 thesis. Visitors pass an entrance fountain that shields the prayer area from noise, then move through shoe removal and ablutions into the main prayer space, entered through a sound lobby beneath a copper-lined dome.

Large swing doors under a deep overhang open onto a garden and fountain. High windows at the rear draw cool, humidified air over the fountain and through the mosque, so it needs no mechanical cooling.

Craft

The front windows carry the 99 names of Allah in painted glass. Cape Town artist Achmat Soni drew the calligraphy full size; local glass painters, briefed on the importance of every stroke and dot, painted the panels in reverse.

When the contractor went bankrupt, the practice took direct control of construction and stationed staff on site, updating drawings with the artisans as decisions were made.

The result

The centre opened in 2001 and received the Pretoria Institute of Architecture Brickwork Award in 2003. Aziz Tayob counts it among the highlights of his career.