Al Furqan Mosque: Plan and Trajectory
The interstitial spaces unwrapped as a trajectory, show the clarity of procession through Islamic places of worship. Entering at street level to a 'dirty' space, the worshippers remove their shoes, as is traditional, before proceeding through clear circulation spaces to the Ablution spaces in which they are required to perform the steps of Wudhu (washing before prayer). After this, the worshipper moves through 'clean' circulation spaces to the prayer space, to perform acts of worship and prayer movements.
Gateshead Mosque: Plan and Trajectory
Similar to the previous Mosque, the trajectory of the interstitial spaces follow the same processional movements from the street to a 'dirty' entrance where shoes are removed, before following the same pattern of Ablutions spaces where Wudhu is performed before moving through to 'clean' areas and the main place of worship. This shows, despite both being completely different in scale and plan, the Mosques both follow the same spatial strategy throughout. The Gateshead Mosque is situated in an old church which had been empty for some years before its change of use to accommodate the Mosque, it is interesting to see how the Islamic community have been able to adapt a Christian place of worship to suit their own needs and how this still follows the typical movement of people through the space.
Shah Jalal Masjid Mosque: Plan and Trajectory
Another Mosque which has been retrofitted into an existing building of another use, the Shah Jalal Masjid Mosque is situated above a Halal store on Coatsworth Road itself, with a door which enters the Mosque from the street into a 'dirty' space where the shoes are removed and then the worshipper continues onwards to the Ablutions spaces to clean before continuing onwards to the place of worship.
Gateshead Masonic Hall
The secular meeting space of the Gateshead Masonic Hall on plan is a complex maze of rooms and spaces with varying thresholds between public and private spaces on the way to the Masonic 'Temple'. By unfolding the plan, the route through is simplified between the entrance to the building, through a general circulation space which services most of the main public spaces, the route to the Temple continues through a set of doors which separates the public and private spaces, before entering the Temple itself.
After completing several of these trajectory diagrams, I am planning to continue with these for the other selected meeting places as they have really helped with my understanding of the processional interstitial spaces of the buildings and comparing them alongside each other.
Comments