Mosque derived form the Arabic word ‘sa-ja-da’ which means prostration. The first mosque (Prophet Muhammad Mosque) is not only served as a congregational place for prayers but also for all religious and secular meetings of the society. The mosque is more integrated into everyday life of the Islamic community than the equivalent place of worship in other civilizations.
Nowadays, the function of a mosque is only limited for prayers and Islamic study and does not contribute to multi racial society of Malaysia. The mosque designs in Malaysia used revivalism in order to create the image of the mosque. This can be seen as uncreative culture, a dogmatic sense of rigidity, an arrogant sculpture and white elephant to be praised but never used efficiently.
The idea of the mosque in the centre of Kuala Lumpur is to demonstrate and to revive the original function of the mosque which is not only as a ritual place but also contribute to urban society development. This project also tries to discover the suitable architectural language for mosque in Malaysia that can suit within the framework of present socio-economic and regionalistic concern.
