The competition was to design the Iconic Mosque in Dubai Creek Harbour Development in Dubai. In accordance with Emaar’s vision to design the city of the future, to create an urban city that respects the culture and climate of Dubai. A place where people can live, work and play in harmony with nature.

The design approach of the project spaces are created by changing the topography of the location: the “earth” is elevated around a place, a place of activities: a public plaza flowing continuously into the mosque Haram. All forming one single space bounded by the elevated earth. A part of this space is simply sanctified by putting a simple roof, like a sheet of paper that was employed to cover a part elected to serve as the mosque.

The mosque is not a mass surrounding by a landscape, but rather a space emerging from the topography, and covered by a paper-like roof, that accidentally happen to cover this specific place.

At the same time, the sloping roof connects to “earth” from one side and soaring to the sky in the other end. Thus, the vertical direction is blended with the horizontal.