New QFIS building: an architectural marvel

The new building of QFIS.

The new building of Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), opened yesterday in Education City by Qatar Foundation chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, has impressed the visitors with its innovative architectural design inspired by Islamic heritage and values.Within the four-storey building, some 150m by 100m in dimension, members of the QF Community will experience an open and inviting, campus-like atmosphere at the state-of-the-art centre that includes a library and study facilities.  From the design and construction  to its daily operations, the principles behind the institution of the new QFIS building looked to implement the messages and meanings of the Holy Qur’an.  Reflecting a new, futuristic style of Islamic architecture, Qatar Foundation and Hamad Bin Khalifa University wanted to revise the traditional model of a madrassa through this project by combining study and worship in one building. QFIS has an extensive library that will cater to the students and researchers with over 100,000 titles of books. These are specialised for the topics and programmes of the college and the library works in co-operation with Qatar National Library. The mosque at the college can accommodate around 1,800 people inside and outside. The new building has 54 teaching rooms of different sizes. In addition to regular teaching, they are also meant for research activities and academic sessions.  The architects, Ali Mangera and Ada Yvars Bravo, studied Islamic structures from history and distilled their research into two principal concepts: knowledge and enlightenment.  These values are represented by the two ribbons that intertwine to create the building’s internal spaces, and come to an end rising into the sky pointing in the direction of Makkah. The classrooms and the mosque contain many symbolic and poetic references to Islam and its civilisation.  The mosque structure rests on five large columns representing the five pillars of Islam, with each featuring a verse drawn from the Holy Qur’an. However, its intelligent, complex structure ensures that its large interior space, including the mezzanine level, is free from columns.Prayer lines are extended to the exterior landscape of the building, echoing the notion that the entire earth is a ground for prayer.Natural light, and the play of light and shadow, is an important feature that is framed differently in different parts of the building which also uses a calm and neutral palette of whites representing notions of serenity and purity.  Water is another element used throughout the building where four streams flow through its exterior and interior, inspired by the rivers of paradise as described in the Holy Qur’an.The new building includes the latest amenities that have taken advantage of modern innovations alongside a respect for the environment, in addition to being an architectural masterpiece that exemplifies the beauty of Islam and its moderation.BELOW:Prominent Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi participating in the Friday prayer in the mosque inside the new building of QFIS. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed