Le Corb and mosque

Blue Mosque in Istanbul, formerly known to the Western as Stamboul.

"It must be a silent place facing toward Mecca. It needs to be spacious so that the heart may feel at ease, and high so that prayers may breathe there.

There must be ample diffused light so as to have no shadows; the whole should be perfectly simple; and a kind of immensity must be encompassed by the forms.

The floor must be more spacious than a public square, not to contain great crowds but so that the few who come to pray may feel joy and reverence within this great house.

Nothing should be hidden from view: one enters and sees the immense square covered with golden mats of rice straw, always new, and no furnishings or seats but only a few lecterns close to the ground bearing copies of Koran before which one kneels.

At a glance one sees the four corners, distinctly feels their presence and then construes the great cube perforated by small windows from which spring the four gigantic transverse arches uniting the pendentives; then one sees the crown sparkling with the thousand tney windows of the dome.

Overhead is a vast space whose size one cannot grasp, for the half sphere has the unique charm of eluding measurement.

From above hang innumerable wires; they almost reach the ground to hold rods on which the litle oil lamps are hung, a crystalline procession turning in concentric circles, which in he evening suspends a luminous ceiling over the heads of the faithful; within the encircling band of windows now dimmed, never-ending wires climb toward the top of the dome and disappear in the obscurity of that immense space.

The mihrab, facing the entrance is no more than a door to the Kaab. It has neither protrusions nor depth."

Abstract from a chapter entitled "The Mosques" from Le Voyage d'Orient (Journey to the East) by Le Corbusier.

Undeniably, it must have been a spectacular view being there. From one aspect, it is really amazing how the Muslims achieved such skills to erect the structure. The space, the detailed ornamentations, the materials, the heaviness of the volume, etc.. People come from all over the world to see these amazing monuments of the past. Somehow, as time flies, people's minds were tuned to think that the Muslims have created one of the best structures on earth. It became an instant tourist attraction.

The architecture has evolved greatly from the time of the prophet where mosque were only one story high. It could probably be considered as just a shed because the walls were not allowed to be higher than a man's height. The canopy was just constructed out of leaves from date trees. Just a simple mud construction, made as simple as possible to accommodate the needs of the people to live their lives as Abdullah. Refer to Raheeq Maktum (sirah nabawiyah - book that tells the story of the prophet in detail) for the description.

I'm not trying to make any point or draw some sort of conclusion here. Just "charging the void", as said by Alison and Peter Smithsons (architecture intellectuals). Or maybe Mauro (history lecturer). Just maybe try to spark an idea or perhaps a question. Do the recent mosques reflect our identity as Muslims? Our achievements in the past, just a few decades back were really great. The buildings were the immediate sign of our once great civilisation. That is normal. Great civilisations were often reflected in the structure that they left behind. Just like the Romans, Greek, China, Egypt and so forth.

People were fascinated by the space and structure of the mosque. They are more interested in the building rather than the purpose of the building and the inhabitants of the building.

Do they realise that the mosque were the centre of the life in the past? They were the only buildings to be built out of the best materials and craftiness, whereas the markets, houses, shops and other buildings surrounding the mosquesa were built from wood. Every once in a while, fire would rampage throughout the city and destroyed all but the mosque. Then, they were rebuilt. Human activities became bustling once more. Trades, shops, cafes, etc flourished again and again. Life was resurrected a lot of time. Despite all that, the mosque still stood there, standing in the middle of the town, attracting the faithful to pray 5 times a day congregation, reciting the verses that were bestowed upon mankind hundreds of years ago.

What is the situation now? I am not being pesimistic but I can probably say that mosques are just another project to be included in the town planning scheme to cater the needs of some Muslims who wants pray.

Were the tourist who visited the mosques interested in the prayers? They might be, but in Le Corbusier's case, I doubt it. He was just seeing these things as an architect. That is his religion. (People say architecture can be addictive. Well, it is kind of true. Architecture historians can preach on one simple lightweight chair for 1 hour if they want to.) Anyway, when they see people pray, what do they see? Aerobics? Sports? Yoga? An act of submission to a black building in Mecca? Manifestation of the submission to Allah? Wallahualam. Anyway, thats them. I wonder how we as Muslims see the vitality of the prayer.

So, where am I getting here? As I said just now, just charging the void. Its an open ended discussion with opportunites to argue, comment, question, ponder upon, etc..