Mosul Al Nouri Complex Architectural Design Competition

Revival Of The Memory I Courtyards Of Al Nouri

With the competition opened by UNESCO, it is aimed to restore Al Nuri Mosque, one of the most important structures and social centers of Mosul, and to become an important center for the revival of the city after conflicts with social and cultural structures to be built around it.

With the given program, a contemporary complex was designed with the restoration of the mosque for contemporary needs, open prayer areas, religious-cultural visit areas, secondary school, cultural center, administration and service spaces.

The Al Nouri Mosque has seen various interventions and additions since the first build date. The mosque had multiple architectural and social layers of 850 years until damage in 2017. The Al Nouri Mosque is not only architectural heritage but also cultural significance with the passing of time in Mosul.

The Al Nouri Mosque has seen various interventions and additions since the first build date. The mosque had multiple architectural and social layers of 850 years until damage in 2017. The Al Nouri Mosque is not only architectural heritage but also cultural significance with the passing of time in Mosul.

The mosque has received incompatible additions and architectural interventions since the mid20th century. In the reconstruction application, it is planned to reconstruct the building in accordance with the traditional in holistic approach.

A place to be a ‘topos’ goes through certain processes; it is enriched by the accumulation of layers by increasing, fading, multiplying, destroying, sifting. Although this memory consisting of layers is not completely visible / known, it continues to live in the spirit of the place free from time and space. The visibility of memory can be regenerated, evolved, repaired or disappeared completely.

Mosul, which lived the process of becoming a ‘topos’ through very dense layers and the space of its identity increased, lost most of its memory after modernization and especially due conflicts.

The memory that forms the identity of the ‘topos’ is made up of various layers. Billions of years of natural history, thousands of years of human history, tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the way they relate to space and social life make up those layers. Much of everything that exists today and what we are doing now is actually a continuation of those layers.