This new Islamic centre, the first in Slovenia, fulfils a 45-year process to secure land, financing and political support. Its ambition includes representing a large Islamic community within Ljubljana and also gesturing openness to the wider city. Its village-like accumulation of buildings surrounding a mosque includes a school, library, offices, accommodation and restaurant - all gathered around a park and main square containing a single oak tree brought from Bosnia, where most of the congregation originates. Eschewing historical precedents, the mosque is a steel structure infilled with concrete below and glazing above - allowing sunlight to flood its interior - and its weightless central cupola hangs suspended, its transparent blue textile representing the sky as traditionally in Islam. The complex’s main construction material is concrete, but the mosque’s steel exoskeleton supports its inward-looking glazed facade. The project is heated and cooled via an activated concrete core, with energy produced efficiently by heat pumps.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
