QATAR MOSQUE FOUNDATION

The mosque of the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS) University, in the heart of Education City, boasts impressive futuristic and vertiginous lines. This 5,200-tonne steel, 90-metre-high architectural ensemble points its minarets towards the sky and Mecca. It was built by Mangera Yvars Architects as a vast cavernous structure, topped by a large ceiling punctuated by small lights reminiscent of the stars. It can accommodate 1,800 worshippers (inside and out). The concept is to work as a "Kulliyya" or "place where all knowledge is sought" to provide a learning environment for Islamic studies. The building places Qatar at the forefront of contemporary architecture. The site is filled with poetic symbolism that alludes to the Muslim religion.

Its Islamic garden is imagined as an interpretation of paradise, the waves of the "four rivers of paradise" described in the Koran and symbolizing wine, milk, honey and water. The large columns forming the structure of the mosque symbolize the five pillars of Islam. Four minarets frame the 90-metre-high structure. The calligraphy of Koranic verses that line the minarets (designed by Iranian architect and calligrapher Taha al-Hiti) is impressive. Verses that "flow" down the walls like streams to the Islamic garden.