Al Masjid As-Saifee Curving Connection
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The following article appeared in the Texas Architect 3/4 1997 Issue.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION An Islamic community, Anjuman-e-Najmi, in Irving is building a new 12,300-square-foot worship facility that will include parsonage, dining hall and classrooms, and prayer hall; the project, by Oglesby Greene of Dallas, is to be completed in May. The community is a Shiite-based, Bohra sect that requires certain architectural elements in its worship space--stilted arches, crestings, mihrab and minaret details, and a precise orientation of the prayer room to Mecca. In addition, the architects had to accommodate automobiles on the 171-by-305-foot wooded site and deal with a limited budget. The three building elements are organized around a central court and fountain. Like the prayer room, the fountain is on axis with Mecca. A curved masonary wall, with traditional banding detail, connects the three structures, directs circulation, and provides a sense of enclosure. The buildings themselves are simple one- and two-story boxes; exterior surfaces are stucco, concrete masonry, and zinc flat-seam panels.
From Texas Architect 3/4 1997
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