Punchbowl Mosque ranked alongside Australian icons
Punchbowl Mosque, which is yet to officially open, has been recognised as one of the top 10 concrete public architectural wonders of Australia.
The Express
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Punchbowl Mosque, home of the Australian Islamic Mission, can proudly take its place as a nationally recognised icon after being recognised as one of Australia’s top 10 concrete buildings.
The mosque, which is due to open within the next month, has been recognised as one of Australia’s top 10 most outstanding concrete public architectural works for the past 90 years.
“The architecture brings the artistic and spiritual element to the structure and you can feel you are close to God,” Australian Islamic Mission board member Chaaban Omran said.
The mosque, designed by Campsie-born Angelo Candalepas, joins iconic structures, including the Sydney Opera House, Australia Square in Sydney and the High Court building in Canberra in the top 10 list.
The list celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia.
The mosque, which cost more than $13 million to build, has been 23 years in the making according to Mr Omran.
“We very honoured to be selected among the top 10 iconic institutions because our aim was to build an icon for the Australian community,” Mr Omran told The Express.
““The mosque won the Sulman Medal for Public Architecture in 2018 which is why we were not totally surprised by the top 10 list.”
“We are totally delighted with the list because we have had a lot of hardships to get where we are.
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“The council (Canterbury Bankstown) wanted us to build a three-level car park which set us back and also cost us more money, but in the end, we won the right to have two basement levels.
“Our architect Angelo Candalepas, who is an orthodox Catholic, put his heart and soul into the mosque and it’s a big credit to him.
“We are happy we made the right decision with the architect.”
Mr Omran said the 102 mini domes, called muqarnas in Arabic, are unique not only for Australia but the world because they are so numerous. They used a Turkish calligrapher to inscribe all the 99 attributed names of God on them.
Mr Candalepas, who has won many awards for his work, said during the construction, that the single-material concrete design gave the building an ancient dimension with “no tense or time”.
NSW Governor Margaret Beazley toured the mosque recently with Watson federal Labor MP Tony Burke, Lakemba state Labor MP Jihad Dib, Campsie police Superintendent Kerrie Lewis, AIM president Bashar Al-Jamal, Mr Candalepas, Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour, councillors Nada Saleh and Bilal El-Hayek.
During the tour Mr Candalepas told the governor that “this is a project that offers the gifts of the worth of the Islamic community to this nation”.
The other structures in the top 10 are: the Australian Academy of Sciences’ Shine Dome in Canberra; Australia Square in Sydney — the country’s first round skyscraper, the Gladesville Bridge in Sydney, James Cook University Library in Townsville, Melbourne University Carpark, Victorian State Offices and the Queensland Art Gallery.
Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia CEO Ken Slattery said the list highlighted the aesthetic, environmental, and social contribution concrete has made, and continues to make, to Australia’s urban landscapes since the organisation began 90 years ago.
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“Some of the top 10 structures sit in harmony with the landscape, while others are proudly uncompromising; some have Brutalist, geometric composition while others have continuous free-flowing forms, but collectively, this list captures the limitless potential of concrete,” Mr Slattery said.
The chair of the judging panel Peter Poulet said the 10 had been selected from a list of 45 nominations based on three criteria.
The criteria were architectural merit (the form, function and structure of the building); innovation in the use of concrete as a material, as a structure, and aesthetically; and finally, exemplar of the time, which determined whether the project redefined and expanded concrete’s potential.