Dutch architect reveals plans for four structures To be tethered to floating poem by Sheikh Mohammed
Dubai is set to have four floating mosques tethered to the Palm Jebel Ali in what would be perhaps the single greatest departure yet from traditional Islamic architecture.
Plans for the buildings have been drawn up by Dutch architect Koen Olthuis and are being considered by palm developer Nakheel.
Olthuis has already designed a floating church for the city of Amsterdam among a host of other buoyant structures.
"The design of mosques has been changing over the centuries and this is just the latest development," he said.
"Dubai is a very exciting city and we just wanted to contribute with what we think is a very exciting design." The plan is for the flatroofed floating mosques to have minarets, traditional Islamic arches and two rows of 12-metre-high transparent plastic columns that channel light through the prayer hall.
They would be kept afloat by giant slabs of a mixture of concrete and foam and receive electricity and water supplies from the island.
The mosques would be tethered to a vast floating poem penned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The poem will bob between the fronds and the palm's outer rim. It has won plaudits from literary critics around the world and reads: "Take wisdom from the wise: Not everyone who rides a horse is a jockey. It takes a man of vision to write on water. Great men rise to great challenges." Olthuis, creative director of Dutch Docklands, said Nakheel executives were "very excited" about the floating mosque project.
But a company spokesman remained tightlipped, saying only that "concept plans have been submitted but not yet finalised".
It is not clear how the Muslim faithful would react to a floating prayer hall. But Islamic law graduate Tariq Bujasaim gave the plan the thumbs-up.
"I would certainly be happy to use a floating mosque," he said. "The only condition for it being a mosque is that it is clean and ritually pure.
"You can pray at the side of the road or in the middle of a desert so why not pray in a floating mosque?" The mosques could be hosting worshippers in January 2010 the provisional date for the completion of the palm.
By James Reinl
© Emirates Today 2007
