The idea behind the design by Invert Studios (Victoria Stotskaia, Raof Abdelnabi, Kamel Loqman) for the Central Mosque of Pristina started with a very simple question:How can 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 the city" By proposing a design that is not conventional and common, and in an effort to change the way the public perceives mosques external shapes, they created an example of a world class building that reflects the Islamic Architectural Heritage. At the same time, this building stands out with a high technology character. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Muslim community of the city of Pristina finds itself in a hard situation due to the lack of praying space and the disproportional mosque coverage between the old and the new part of the city. This situation is a consequence of the city growth during the socialist period where the sacral buildings were not a part of the urban planning agenda.

Mosques in Pristina are mainly located in the old (northern) part of the city and most of them remain from the Ottoman Period. Those are small masjids that have been planned for the neighborhood needs and a bigger one for the Friday prayers,. They are old and have cultural heritage values. Except of some new built mosques, the overall prayer space consists of the old ones w...