Al Huda Nusantara Mosque / JXA Studio
Al Huda Nusantara Mosque / JXA Studio
Text description provided by the architects. As a country with one of the largest numbers of Muslims in the world, the development of Islam in Indonesia emerges through an extensive history. One of the things that have been affected by the coming of Islam in the country until now is the development of the lush architecture of houses of worship as the result of Indonesian traditional culture exposure. One of the newly designed mosques that represent vernacular historical values is Al Huda Mosque in Jatinangor, West Java.
From the beginning, the owner of the mosque expresses his aspiration for this project to become a place that can accommodate religious activities in such a highly-populated area. Furthermore, the mosque which previously had historical values of the owner’s family is expected to become a new icon in the area. The design of the Al Huda Mosque undertakes to come as an oasis of a comfortable house of worship. The designs are brand-new, but most of them are preserving their original form. Instead of adopting the dome shape that is the characteristic of mosques in general, this building adopts a design that was applied to Indonesian mosques before the 19th century. The design certainly reflects a common example of the traditional Javanese or Indonesian mosque design at that time.
This building has a square shape with a stacked or overlapping tropical roof. This roof shows numerous similarities to the wooden structures of the Hindu-Buddhist civilizations in Java and Bali. The design of the roof structure is the higher the smaller, which means Faith, Islam, and Excellence. The front, back, and sides of this mosque building provide a veranda to deal with the tropical climate that can also function as a prayer area when needed. The presence of modern calligraphy on the facade partition pattern makes this area play a significant role as a wall that guides the visitor to enter the area inside the mosque.
Serene And Peaceful Interior – The prayer room on the first floor is directed by a wall cantered on one perspective point which is bordered by a reflective water pool. Water which has the power to give tranquillity to the architectural spaces is applied to this mosque. The ablution area which is the main part to start the prayer is also faced with a large glass block wall that can illuminate the room with natural light, but keep the people’s privacy. The interior of the prayer room on the second floor uses a design that exposes the grandeur of the room which is designed with three roof structures with a height of up to 10 meters. On the mihrab walls, there is also a visual display of 99 modern calligraphy grids of Asmaul Husna, creating a magnificent space to stimulate a more valuable spiritual experience.
Materials And Construction Process Challenges – Al Huda Mosque uses local bricks, teakwood, and pebbles combined with terracotta. Most of these materials are from the ruins of the old mosque when it is demolished with the aim that the sentimental value of the old building is still present in the new formation. In its implementation, this mosque construction process took place at the same time as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, there were several design adjustments, such as the handwashing facilities installment which was then designed to be integrated into a single unit with additional ablution facilities in the area before entering the building. This is a response to comply with the predetermined health protocol and is a unique design product feature of the entrance facade. Overall, the design of the Al Huda Mosque is intended to combine traditional elements and values with a modern building philosophy to create a contemporary mosque design.
