Dama Design ExhibitionsOutdoor Mosque Exhibition Stand
Description
The Kocatepe model mosque has been one of our favourite and most interesting projects yet. Kocatepe mosque is an existing mosque in Ankara, Turkey. The Ankara council asked us to create a model of the mosque that’s large but much smaller than the actual mosque itself for a local exhibition event that was going to be held in the city centre. We first visited the original mosque itself and took necessary pictures from various angles and also did some technical drawings on site. We also gathered the architectural plan from the council to see the top parts such as the domes on top of the mosque that are particularly hard to see from the bottom. After collecting all the necessary visuals and documentation we began recreating the structure in 3D with downsized measurements and started planning the production of the key parts of the structures. It had to be lightweight and well-balanced as it was going to be used for a limited amount of time. We didn't use any building materials such as cement, grout or bricks. Our initial approach was to plan the metal construction that is the skeleton and strong main frame of anything to be installed on top of them.
Challenge
To create a large but smaller model of an existing famous mosque ito be presented in an outdoor expo
Solution
Constructed strong metal frames from iron profiles that were installed inside all of the structures of the exhibition stand
Results
We then started producing the circular structures in the workshop to be put on the metal frames. We created templates to be exact with the curves and carefully fitted bent plywood on the circular caressing wooden frames. We then spray-painted all of them in the workshop with matching silver and white paints. Minarets have been a challenge on their own as they were pretty tall compared to their width. For that, we also made firmly welded metal frames made of thick iron profiles as well, as constructed according to the wind and any other external force caused by the weather preventing it from being damaged and keeping it completely stable. After installing the main parts of the domes and the body of the stand we brought a crane to carefully install the minarets on the metal frames. Minarets were initially prepared in various modular pieces from our carpentry workshop that were later installed altogether on-site by our talented team.
