January_1966 — Page 53

الآفاق

THE

Terrazzo grillwork surrounding the gallery

THE umbrella which by tradi- tion is held above the head of Eastern monarchs as they move about their official duties-was taken as his theme by a young architect of the Malaysian Public Works Department. Mr. Inche Baharuddin bin Abu Kas- sim, in designing the new M$10 mil- lion National Mosque, Masjid Negara.

Though of modern design, the building retains the best of Muslim decorative art and a skillful blending of the classic Islamic pattern.

The pattern of the decorative grill- work which extends round the build- ing and the numerous small domes that dot the top of the verandah, is based on Sarasinic design, but is finely adapted to fit in with contemporary planning.

The Central Organising Committee, headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein, considered promoting both international and national competi- tions for the design of the building. but finally decided to entrust the task to the Public Works Department.

Before a model of the proposed mosque could be prepared, a panel of architects in the PWD had to collect, study and compare the designs of all the famous mosques throughout the Muslim world. As a result the main task of designing the new mosque fell to Inche Baharuddin, who had specialised in the study of mosque building. The model made by him and his colleagues was finally approv ed by the committee in June 1960, when work was begun on the pre- paration of the site.

The ceremony of fixing the Kiblat, or direction of prayer, which is to- wards the Ka'abah in the Holy City of Mecca, was performed on Septem- ber 29, 1961.

Detailed planning of the building took the architect to India, Pakistan,

can be seen in this view of the mosque

UAR and Saudi Arabia, to study the colours, scriptures, construction ma- terials and garden surrounds of other mosques. The result of these studies and of his own creative ideas is now to be seen in the central part of Kuala Lumpur, where the Masjid Negara occupies five acres of a 13 acre area at Jalan Hisamuddin.

The cost of the building was shared by the Federal Government, M$4.5 million, the State Governments, M$2.5 million, and public donations.

Grand Hall

The main buildings of the mosque comprise the grand hall surrounded

and minaret

on three sides by a covered verandah. a projecting minaret. a decorative courtyard with two pools, a dewan or meeting hall, libraries, a Royal ante-chamber for the use of His Ma- jesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Their Highnesses the Sultans, and offices for the Chief Imam and his staff.

The grand hall is the most impor- tant part of the building, it being the main place of prayer. It is 153 ft. square. surrounded by reinforced concrete walls faced with Italian marble. These walls are punctured on three sides by nine wide decora- tive aluminium grill sliding doors.

A pleated shell is used for the hall

Persia, Turkey, Egypt. Iran. Spain. Close view of the pleated shell roof and small domes over the grand hall

Far East Architect & Builder January, 1966

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