Gianluca Peluffo designs brutalist mosque for new Egyptian city Monte Galala
In Egypt's Sokhna region, Gianluca Peluffo & Partners is working on Monte Galala, a residential city spanning 2.2 million square meters for Tatweer Misr. This development will accommodate 30,000 residents and features hospitality, residential zones, a university campus, and a marina along a 1 km stretch of coastline. It received the 2016 Dubai Cityscape Award for the best masterplan in the Middle East. A prominent element is a mosque measuring 3,200 sqm, designed in a brutalist style with 310 prayer spaces and a tall minaret, which architect Valerio Paolo Mosco describes as 'speaking architecture.' Peluffo aims for a modern architectural expression in Egypt, focusing on intersubjectivity and moving away from foreign influences. He characterizes the project as light, matter, spirit.
Key facts
- Gianluca Peluffo & Partners is designing Monte Galala, a new city in Sokhna, Egypt, on the Red Sea coast.
- The project covers 2.2 million square meters and includes hospitality, residential, a university, and a marina on 1 km of coastline.
- Monte Galala is designed for 30,000 inhabitants and commissioned by Egyptian company Tatweer Misr.
- The masterplan won the Dubai Cityscape Award in 2016 for best masterplan in the Middle East.
- The mosque is 3,200 sqm with 310 prayer spaces, featuring brutalist exposed concrete and a roof of skewed skylights.
- A high minaret and a semi-transparent onyx slab facing Mecca indicate the mosque's religious function.
- Architect Valerio Paolo Mosco calls the mosque 'speaking architecture' that evokes the arid terrain.
- Peluffo's design is influenced by Merleau-Ponty's concept of 'chiasma' and emphasizes intersubjectivity.
- The mosque aims to synthesize corporeality and spirituality, respecting Islamic prayer traditions.
- Peluffo describes the project with three words: light, matter, spirit.
Entities
Artists
- Gianluca Peluffo
- Valerio Paolo Mosco
- Merleau-Ponty
- Lucio Fontana
- Paul Weller
Institutions
- Gianluca Peluffo & Partners
- Tatweer Misr
- Artribune
- PresS/Tfactory_AIAC
- Associazione Italiana di Architettura e Critica
- Interno14
Locations
- Sokhna
- Egypt
- Red Sea
- Monte Galala
- Milan
- Marrakech
- Morocco
- Sicily
- Veneto
- Tuscany
- Puglia
- Albissola
- Miami