Riyadh, The Diriyah Biennale Foundation announced the participating teams and jury for the Al-Musalla Prize, an international architecture competition. The Musalla (a prayer space) will be built on the site of the Islamic Arts Biennale.
The shortlisted teams for the 2025 Al-Musalla Prize are AAU Anastas from Palestine, Sahel AlHiyari from Jordan, EAST Architecture Studio from Lebanon and United Arab Emirates, Dabbagh Architects from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, and Asif Khan from the United Kingdom. The selection criteria guiding the shortlisting of the five finalists included the studios’ previous built work, projects their multidisciplinary teams and a presentation of their knowledge of Islamic art and architecture. As part of the second phase of the competition, they will propose a design for a Musalla.
The award stipulated that the Musalla should be a typical prayer space. Additionally, one of the unique aspects of the competition is that the competing teams will be able to plan the future of
the Musalla, which will be dismantled and relocated after the Biennale. The foundation stipulates that nominees should follow specific criteria that include specifications such as the Musalla must be at least 50 square meters in space, be built with high environmental sustainability standards, and be designed with a focus on beauty and craftsmanship. It should be created to be inviting to people of diverse cultures.
The winning work team will welcome visitors to the second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale for four months at Jeddah’s Western Hajj Terminal, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Inc (SOM), the winning team of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1981. The Biennale is inspired by the historical, cultural, and architectural significance of the Western Hajj Terminal.
Prince Nawaf Bin Ayyaf, jury chair of the Al-Musalla Prize, emphasized that the competition is unique and carries a great responsibility to explore innovative and multiple models of Musalla architecture that take into acco
unt the characteristics of the location and time, noting that the Musalla Prize encourages finding new ways to incorporate the latest building technologies inspired by traditional crafts.
Prince Nawaf also said that the competition would contribute to the design of a Musalla according to the Islamic architectural tradition. He also said that the foundation hopes the competition will result in a memorable landmark in the Islamic Arts Biennale, inspiring others to participate in future competitions of this award, which celebrates sustainability, creativity, inclusiveness, and ingenuity in design.
Aya Al-Bakri, Al-Bakree, CEO of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, said that implementing a unique space that invites reflection and contemplation is closely related to the organization’s goal, which seeks to implement creative ideas in various fields and share them with the competing teams.
She detailed that the Musalla Prize comes in collaboration with the Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture, which pro
motes new ideas for mosque design around the world and encourages innovative planning, design, and technical ideas that can shape the identity of mosque architecture in the 21st century.
The Diriyah Biennale Foundation will announce the winner of the international architectural competition later this year.
Source: Saudi Press Agency
