Islamic cemetery

Altach , Austrai / BernaroBeder Architects
Five Projects win Aga Khan Award for Architecture
The master Jury for the 2012 Agha Khan Award for Architecture has
announced five deserving projects as winners of the prestigious, US$ 1
million prize. Since the award was launched 36 years ago, over 1000
projects have received the prize and more than 7.500 building projects
have been documented for exhibiting architectural excellence and improving
the overall quality of life in their regions.
The 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture winners include:
The Cemetery (2011) serves Vorarlberg, the industrialized westernmost
state of Austria, where over eight percent of the population is Muslim. It
finds inspiration in the primordial garden, and is delineated by roseate
concrete walls in an alpine setting, and consists of five staggered,
rectangular grave-site enclosures, and a structure housing assembly and
prayer rooms.
The participate materials used were exposed reinforced concrete for the
walls and oak wood for ornamentation of the entrance façade and the
interior of the prayer space. The visitor is greeted by and must pass through
the congregation space with its wooden latticework in geometric Islamic
patterns. The space includes ablution rooms and assembly rooms in a
subdued palette that give onto a courtyard.
The prayer room on the far side of the courtyard reprises the notice-work
theme with Kufic calligraphy in meialmesh on the qibbla wall.
Jury stated: “Simple in expression and poetic in form, it not only engages
the natural landscape in on intelligent manner but also suspends any notion
of declaration. While emphasizing spiritual pluralism, the Cemetery also
provides the final destination for o minority group in o dominant society.”