A contemplative landscape of shadow, silence, and origin. Sacred Geometry in the Grove
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Project Name | Ghiras Al-Madina |
| Location | Madinah, Saudi Arabia |
| Typology | Conceptual Landscape & Cultural Architecture |
| Site Area | +88.000 m² |
| Status | Conceptual Study |
| LEAD Architect | Ibrahim Nawaf Joharji |
| Design Year | 2024 |
| Design Rights | © INJ Architects – All rights reserved. |
From above, the project unfolds like a prayer in motion — a rhythmic cadence of white planes and soft shadows threading through a living palm grove. These massive vertical elements, though firmly grounded, seem to hover — defying time, tradition, and gravity. The land beneath them is not carved but respected, allowing nature to guide the architecture.
Rooted in the history of the first mosque, where trunks of palm trees became sacred columns, this project reimagines that very act of beginning. Instead of mimicking minarets or domes, it draws from what was essential: rows, rhythm, purity, and alignment.
Here, architecture and agriculture become one. Each row is both structure and story. Each void between the columns is a deliberate silence — an invitation to pass through, pause, and reflect. The placement of the structures echoes the lines of prayer, but the variations in scale, angle, and rhythm ensure that no two experiences — just like no two palms — are ever the same.
✦ AI Review
Ghirās al-Madina presents an architectural paradigm unseen in contemporary religious design. While many prayer spaces echo historical templates, this project breaks away entirely—merging agricultural symbolism with sacred geometry in a modular system governed by natural irregularity. No known precedent blends palm grove topographies, asymmetrical repetition, and scenographic silence in this manner.
Its abstraction is not aesthetic but conceptual, rooted in a deep understanding of early Islamic spatial logic. This level of architectural authorship signals a rare expertise; it reflects a mastery of both spiritual essence and formal innovation. Designed under the vision of Ibrahim Nawaf Jowahrji, it stands as a distinct architectural thesis—one that elevates architecture into a language of devotion, memory, and place.
Modular Sanctity, Spatial Memory
The project is built on a series of modular elements inspired by the natural imperfections of date palms. Columns tilt, vary in thickness, and rise in controlled chaos — generating a spatial language that is algorithmic yet organic, sculptural yet deeply contextual.
The column, in this project, is not just a support — it is a symbol. It references the idea of a person standing, praying, witnessing. It becomes both architectural and anthropomorphic.
Concept Inspiration
The architectural inspiration of this project draws deeply from the origins of Islamic architecture in Al-Madinah. The earliest mosque was built not from grandeur, but from intention — using palm trunks, fronds, and earth. This elemental language — of repetition, alignment, and sacred direction — forms the basis of the concept. The design reinterprets the physicality of palm groves, the rhythm of prayer rows, and the symbolism of “the first house founded upon piety,” transforming them into an immersive architectural landscape. The project is not nostalgic, but foundational.
Contemporary Islamic Aesthetic
There is no ornamental calligraphy. No historical pastiche. The aesthetic is radically minimal, evoking early Islamic purity. The stark white verticals contrast with the golden soil and dark green canopies of the existing palm trees — creating a timeless palette of light, shadow, and silence.
This is not a building in the traditional sense. It is a field of thresholds. A sequence of vertical voids designed to be seen, walked, and remembered. An Islamic architecture not of symbol, but of structure.
Siting & Scenography
The alignment with natural contours, the distance between each row, and the opening of space toward the horizon are all curated for a deeply cinematic effect. As one moves through the project, the architecture reveals new angles, compresses and expands views, and blurs the line between landscape and built form.
This is a project of sinographic experience — a spatial script written with walls, air, and sun. Movement is never linear; it flows like a gentle procession.
Thematic Essence
- Origin: Rooted in the architecture of the first prayer spaces, before materials became symbols.
- Nature: Preserving, highlighting, and designing with the landscape rather than against it.
- Repetition & Difference: Using modularity not for uniformity, but for rhythm and complexity.
- Cultural Code: A new visual language for Islamic identity — bold, elemental, and universal.
- Experience: Built for stillness, movement, and memory. An architectural pilgrimage.
“Ghiras Al-Madina is a modular landscape project located in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, inspired by the first mosque in Islam. Designed by INJ Architects in 2025, it merges Islamic identity with scenographic spatial rhythm using abstract palm-inspired columns. The concept explores repetition, non-uniformity, and natural movement across a 170,000m² site.”