Prishtian Central Mosque

Islam in Kosovo has a history of over six centuries. It is now the main part of its cultural identity, with the Islamic architecture as an integral part of it. From the Ottoman Islamic architecture, over the time original features were developed that formed a unique local style on the basis of the Ottoman style, which in the sacral architecture always kept the core components of the Ottoman mosque. From this, we may conclude that mosque architecture in Kosovo does not start today. On the contrary, it presents a continuity of a long and deep tradition in this place.

The idea behind the design started with a very simple question, how we can design a building that should play in harmony with the surrounding neighborhood, integrated with the urbanity, and for a very powerful reason want to stand out as a futuristic icon for Prishtina City? We looked at the Ottoman architectural elements, and simply we merged the two big elements that can make any building a mosque like a shape, the Minarets, and the Dome. We thought that if we can take the dome shape and merge it with the minaret and integrate the tower- where the most of activities will take place- and have a presence of this tower to the main road, we will be adding an iconic design for the Islamic Culture Centre that will easily tie in with the urbanity of the site, and will interact with different directions of approaching points to it, from the main high road and the back lower road.