Shali, Chechen Respublic
By Natalya Koptseva & Vasily Tarasenko
Mosque classical Islamic style is a perfect fusion of Arabic, Persian, Central Asian and Byzantine elements, harmoniously blending in this inspirational worship place.A seamless emotional integration of the mosque into the surrounding environment was to obtain through smooth, delicate pastel tones that could blend with the surrounding natural elements according to the different time of the day and of the year. Twelve basic color palettes were carefully selected so that believers visiting the mosque for the morning prayer would see the gentle shades of the dawn sky on its façades, while the evening illumination schemes had to reveal deeper crimson tones typical of sunset. The lighting scheme of the Mosque is based on a combination of spot and flood light techniques, which allow to highlight the main details of the mosque while emphasizing its general shape. Illumination levels, output uniformity and colour brightness have been set taking into account the need to identify the different architectural elements as well as the global readability of the building volumes. Now the true essence of the mosque shines not only during the day, but also in the dark.
