RAD+ar, an architecture firm in Jakarta, has built a brand new mosque in Pamulong, Indonesia.
However, this Indonesian mosque is more than just a place of worship — it’s a “bioclimatic community space,” serving as a meeting place and recreation space within a specially temperature-controlled environment.
If you didn’t know, Indonesia can get pretty toasty.
The well-ventilated building features breathable walls and brilliant ventilation that reduce the need for energy-hungry air conditioning systems.
RAD+ar also made changes in light of COVID-19, as described in Design Boom:
“In the middle of construction, in january 2020, while the coronavirus outbreak happened, RAD+ar chose to replace 95% of the project’s vertical wall elements with a custom made roster comprised of 30.000 bricks. maintaining the interior temperature within 25 to 28 degrees with the minimum wind speed of 1m/s, the design made it possible to create a sheltered ‘outdoor-like’ mosque with a dynamic clay roster facade.”
I’m a big fan of building around a problem rather than reducing it, so eliminating the need for power-hungry air conditioning systems is a brilliant way to go if you ask me.
The energy needed to cool down a mosque of this size would be gargantuan, so that’s a great way to get around the issue.
