OUD+Architects collaborate with Zaha Hadid Architects for the Prishtina Central Mosque

This collaboration was part of the International Competition for the design of the Prishtina Central Mosque, in the Dardania Neighborhood.  Although, unfortunately  the ZHA & OUD+ project was not selected as the winner, it proved again that Zaha Hadid & Zaha Hadid Architects are a unique design establishment that is hard to match.  In contrary to the other competition entries the ZHA & OUD+ project spilled over to the Dardania Spine, and in a very subtile way tried to integrate the new organic Mosque design with the existing Spine Housing and Commercial complex.

Our proposal for Prishtina’s new central mosque is an avant-garde reinterpretation of a building typology with a long history, aiming at creating a point of identification for the Muslim community of a young, future-oriented and growing society. Seamlessly integrating it into its urban context, the proposed design is an accessible addition to the urban and cultural fabric of Prishtina, as well as infusing it with a unique local identity and appearance, turning it into a symbol reaching beyond the Muslim community and widely visible landmark in the skyline of the city.

Urban Integration

The key consideration for the embedment into the urban fabric was to create an inviting piece of architecture for the community, open and inviting to all sides, and naturally nesting within the existing connections to become part of the neighborhood and wider urban context.

As the mosque is a place for people to gather, access should feel naturally and clear; the building is intended to be read intuitively and understood by moving through it.

At the same time, the ambition is to enhance and structure the existing spaces by negotiating between them: A clear urban access situation and edge definition towards Bulevardi i Dëshmorëve, the high end of the site and what we consider being the “city” side of the complex, communicates the building’s character and presence towards the street with tall domes and the minaret, whilst at the end of the site facing Ilaz Kodra, a smaller scale and less monumental open square situation is proposed to interface with the pedestrian connection to Idris Gjilani and the Railway station at the low end of the site. A transition to lower and smaller structures at the western end of the building allows to interface in scale with the unstructured buildings on Ilaz Kodra, and should a successive removal of the buildings be permissible, open pavillion-like shells can add to the mosque complex to convert this interface to a true, defined plaza situation creating a lead in for primarily pedestrian access from the west.

Urban Concept

Our design tries to utilize and emphasize the popular pedestrian connection between Idris Gjilani and the university campus as an element to attract audience and structure the site. Ambition is to create an attractive, connective and inviting community center, that can radiate far beyond the site and become the heart of a wider neighborhood vitalization.

When approaching from the university / Bulevardi i dëshmorëve, the complex presents itself as a mosque with a strong presence in the urban context. The dominant arches of the peripheral domes create the lead-in to what is clearly a sacral building with public character.

The minaret marks a square situation facing east with an opportunity to either access the Hayat on level 0, which is exclusively dedicated to the program of the mosque, or to invite visitors to further explore the graded path down into the site towards the east.

This connection, formed as a valley or canyon, then leads the visitor further down the hill, and when progressing down to level -4 and -8 respectively, the supplementary program of supporting retail develops on both sides of the canyon.

As the program in the lower levels unfolds, the architecture of the retail program presents itself with smaller structures inserted into the domes’ predominant column grids, like a house-in-house program al- lowing a clear distinction between the main structure carrying the roof of the mosque on level 0 and the supplementary program inserted like drawers or jewel boxes into the framework of the architecture on lower levels.

Also here the open character of the shell structures support permeability, allowing for inviting, naturally lit an generous shop facades with an element of architectural shading canopies creating a floating transition between inside and outside, inviting the visitor to approach and also with the opportunity of outdoor displays and cafes in summer, further increasing visitor interaction potential.