Kos Mosque / Rafstudio
Textual description provided by the architects. KOS Mosque is a renovation project of one of the typical mosque projects in the Organized Industrial Zone of Konya, which is not only considered a religious building, but also an intervention in a place with structural and imaginative defects. This project is considered a new proposal on how to redesign existing mosques, the number of which is approaching 85 thousand in Turkey and increasing daily, instead of demolishing and rebuilding them. Data from existing buildings has always been used as a guide in the design process, and the main aim was to provide harmony between the existing building and the additional volumes.
Kos Mosque is located at the intersection of two roads with heavy traffic in the industrial area. The existing structure has a single building entrance raised off the ground and a garden entrance that directs users to this entrance. During the design process, the main goal was to analyze the increased circulation resulting from the new number of users, which will almost double, and to ensure continuity of entrances and exits. In light of these landmarks, the current street entrance was preserved and expanded, and another entrance was added from the other street. These entrances intersect with the courtyard of the new mosque, which is the watering hole and the main entrance to the building. The new minaret is also located at the intersection of the courtyard with the slopes, with the highest visibility.
Accordingly, with the increase in capacity, four different entrances were designed to serve as a hub for the hubs on the ground and basement floors. Following the load-bearing system of the existing mosque, five exposed concrete blocks, the longest of which was 12 metres, were added to either side of the mosque, which became the main prayer hall. The new mosque’s block is formed by adding a mihrab, an entrance, a shoe rack, a courtyard, and a place for ablution to these blocks, and it consists of 11 main axes in total. A 2-meter curtain wall was added in the southwest direction to emphasize the mihrab area on both floors. The entire basement was exposed to solve the problem of natural lighting, and the two different levels were connected by natural terraces.
(Tags for translation)Architecture