Speirs and Major Associates

We often get interesting submissions to Dirty Mouse, and this one for lighting architects Speirs and Major Associates is terrific. They sent us a few shots of the new mosque in Abu Dhabi. The mosque is named after Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayhan, and is a building of extraordinary dimensions: it is the largest mosque in the Emirates and the third largest worldwide, featuring the biggest dome of a mosque in the world

In keeping with other religious buildings, the mosque attaches special symbolic importance to light. Within the interior, light appears woven into the fabric of the building, with all equipment hidden from view. Most striking of all is the exterior lighting which appears to ebb and flow according to the lunar-cyclical Islamic calendar. Director Jonathan Speirs explains: “In the same way as the moon has an impact on the tides, we wanted the moon to have an impact on the building. Our idea was to have a building that, by full moon, is lit pristinely with white light, but with a textural quality evocative of clouds slowly drifting in front of a full white moon. As the moon wanes over its 28 day cycle, the lighting grows gradually bluer to signify darkness. On the fourteenth evening the mosque is lit in deepest blue.”

The Rack N Roll

What a neat product this is! The Rack N Roll is a magazine rack and toilet roll holder. Liking this a lot.

No.Zine

Patrick Fry has recently completed a new project called ‘No.Zine’. Patrick tells us, “It is a self initiated series of zines featuring a collection of young artists, writers, illustrators, photographers and designers. The idea is that each of the zine’s content is based around the number of its issue. So really it’s a celebration of the power in numbers and how everything around us can relate to them.”

Kristyna Litten

For someone who is still studying, Kristyna Litten has some real fine illustration work both here and here.

Gareth Morgan

Gareth Morgan dropped us a line last week to his newly-refurbished portfolio built on the Cargo platform. Gareth is based in Manchester and is looking for new work opportunities be it freelance or full time positions.