Ridwan Kamil’s mosque design receives international architecture award

Ridwan Kamil, the governor of West Java who is also an architect, received a collective international award from Saudi Arabia, The Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture. The award was given to the best mosque building architecture team, the Grand Mosque of West Sumatera.

The award was given to Rizal Muslimin as the principal architect of Urbane, the architect team which is co-founded by Ridwan Kamil, and Penta Rekayasa as the planning consultant of Detail Engineering Design (DED).

Because Rizal was unable to attend the award ceremony, Ridwan Kamil submitted an application to Indonesian Consul General (KJRI) in Jeddah Eko Hartono to represent him. The event took place on 15 December at Al Salam Hall, Islamic University, Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Six other countries also received the award. According to experts, the countries with the best mosque architecture for three years since 2017 are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Mali, Turkey, Lebanon and Bangladesh.

Founded in October 2012, The Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture is a non-profit organisation based in Saudi Arabia. They aim to create an international programme that raises awareness of contemporary mosque architecture by focusing on best practices in the design, construction and maintenance of mosques. The initial awards were given to mosques built in Saudi Arabia since 1970.

The organisation addresses new ideas for mosque design around the world and encourages the innovations in planning, design and technology that can shape the identity of mosque architecture in the 21st century.