Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque

I am a big fan of Muslim architecture, especially when it comes to mosques. Often, enormous buildings like a mosque, temple, church, courthouse, and etc. symbolize power and strength. Being in the presence of the building makes you feel so small and bring forth a feeling of something more powerful than you in existence. However, when discussing mosques, I also get this other feeling that the building serves to be very welcoming. Where on one hand it seems so powerful, on the other hand it seems full of magnanimity. Another aspect that I always found interesting about mosques is the calligraphy, which can be seen on the exterior and interior of the building.

In most cases, mosques are designed in a traditional way. It is rare to see the design of mosques in collaboration with western culture. A recent architecture that lays out a very beautiful combination of Middle East and western culture in the form of a mosque is Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque. Traditional Islamic design is world renowned for its elegant geometric pattern and artistic harmony. Currently it is working in union with western practices to produce some eloquent work such as the Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque. Lastly, the eye-catching design of the courtyard floor makes the mosque stand out even more.

Some facts about the mosque:

• The mosque has the world's largest carpet at 7,119 square metres from Iran
• The world's largest chandelier from Germany made from one million Swarovski crystals
• It has 28 types of marble and 24-carat gold throughout
• The 22,412 square metre mosque site equates to around the size of five football fields.
• More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction work.
• The mosque has 82 domes all of traditional Moroccan design - all decorated with white marble.
• The main dome's outer shell is 32.8 metres in diameter and stands at a height of 70 metres from the inside and 85 metres from the outside. "
  

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