Farewell to Paolo Portoghesi, master of choral architecture, father of the Great Mosque of Rome

Architect, university professor, theorist of postmodernism and director of the Venice Biennale, dies at the age of 92 at his home in Calcata in close proximity to Rome.

The designer of the largest mosque in Europe, brilliant until the end, passed on with an intent of writing his latest work on the concept of beauty.

Constructed in Rome, together with the Iraqi architect Sami Mousawi, the grand mosque, after ten years of planning, was inaugurated on 21st June 1995 on an area of 30,000 m2.

It can accommodate up to 2,000 believers. It includes a library, an Arabic school and a conference centre. From an architectural point of view, a very accurate work was done, based on the principle of "listening to the place" so as to be able to reconcile the cornerstones of Islamic culture in the historical environmental context of Rome, like a deep and solemn embracing of the history we have shared for such long centuries.

There are architectural elements of great visual effect outside, the fountains in particular, and the very long colonnades that offer extraordinary views.

The choice of the material on the outside, such as travertine and terracotta, evokes traditional Roman architectural styles, while inside we are enveloped by mosaics that create optical effects, made from light-colored glazed tiles, professionally assembled by carvers brought in from Morocco, typical of the Islamic architectural tradition with the recurring Koranic theme "God is light".

The prayer hall is surmounted with a central dome which is over 8m (26ft) in diameter and is surrounded by sixteen smaller domes all around the mosque, and is located approximately 8m (26ft) above from the ground level. The minaret is located on the southwest of the prayer hall

From today on, in the mosque of Rome, the deep bond that the architect Portoghesi had with the Islamic world will echo even much more stronger 

Editorial Team