Park Books International New Titles Spring 2022

Symbol of Islam, monument of superlatives, and the heart of
an entirely new metropolitan district: the Djamaa al-Djazaïr is
an edifice with many different facets. In 2008, Frankfurt-based
architecture firm KSP Engel’s design won the international competition
for Algiers’ new Grand Mosque, which was completed
in 2019 after more than a decade of planning and construction
work. The vast structure runs along the Bay of Algiers’ shoreline
for well over 650 yards. A giant 230 feet-high dome covers the
main prayer hall, and the 870 feet-high minaret constitutes Africa’s
tallest building to date. Surrounded by extensive gardens,
the entire complex houses a range of facilities, including a museum,
a theological college, a library, a convention center, and
a cinemateque. It forms a unique religious, cultural, and economic
center that is a magnet for the entire region. And it unites
as an intercultural undertaking combining genuine Algerian
craftsmanship with superb Chinese efficiency and meticulous
German planning and engineering skills.
With rich detail and lavish illustrations, this book tells the full
story of how Algiers’ Djamaa al-Djazaïr, the world’s third-largest
mosque after those of Mecca and Medina, was created and constructed.
A historical and typological classification of this singular
structure in the long history of mosque construction rounds
out this stunning volume.
The world’s third-largest mosque
and Africa’s tallest structure to date:
the Djamaa al-Djazaïr in Algiers,
designed by KSP Engel, is a monument
of superlatives
Jürgen Engel is an architect and principal of
Frankfurt-based firm KSP Engel, with offices
also in Berlin, Braunschweig, Hamburg,
Munich, Beijing, and Shenzhen. One of
Germany’s most established architecture
firms with a history of more than eighty years
and trading under its current name since 2009,
KSP Engel has won some 200 national and
international awards for realized buildings in
Germany and China.
Christian Welzbacher is a Berlin-based scholar
of art history and freelance writer, publicist, and
curator.
EN
ISBN 978-3-03860-274-3
FR
ISBN 978-3-03860-275-0
GE
ISBN 978-3-03860-273-6