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The Re-enabling Water Mosque of the Royal Docks

Part 1 Project 2022
Suha Faisal Valiyaveettil
University of Westminster | UK
The Re-enabling Water Mosque of the Royal Docks aims to use water as a symbolic, social and environmental factor to break down social barriers and provide resilient cultural places in East London, an area socially neglected and prone to future flooding.

The proposal emerges from a close analysis of the environmental and social conditions in the area which revealed that despite the presence of large Muslim community, there is no local mosque.

The Royal Docklands and its residents have been subjected to the economic dynamics that have also contributed to climate change: the demise of global trade, a new airport with private jet facilities, the coming and going of industrial factories, the destruction of the natural landscape, and growing economic disparities. Combined with the effects of climate change, particularly flooding, these factors have put a strain on local residents and their environment.

The final design consists of a mosque in which water performs both symbolically – as a spiritual purifier – and environmentally – by using the Thames to harvest energy. The challenge is to combine aesthetic and cultural concerns with environmental ones to set the foundations for a circular local economy and embrace the requirements for simplicity and modesty of Islam.


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2022
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