Prototype thumbnail 1
Prototype thumbnail 2
+9
images
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Prototype

2009 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In 2009 DGA were appointed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to design the Brick Lane Cultural Trail - a series of sculptural elements along the length of Brick Lane. The centrepiece of the trail is a 29m-high minaret-like structure positioned outside the Brick Lane Mosque. Eight cylinders fabricated in stainless steel and illuminated from within form the body of the tower. It is not officially a minaret because it does not emit the call to prayer, but it functions visually as a marker for the mosque. DGA worked closely with the council and the mosque to agree on a design that satisfied both the planners and the mosque community.

The addition of the minaret-like structure to Brick Lane mosque was a significant moment for the mosque community. Several planning applications for the addition of minarets, finials and a dome had been refused, but permission was finally granted in 2009 for a 29m-high minaret-like structure. This was permitted on the condition that it would be separate from the Georgian building and would be taken down if it ever stopped being used as a mosque. In order to facilitate a free-standing structure, the pavement had to be widened and the entrance to the building’s basement re-routed. Positioned on a Bath stone base, the stainless-steel structure is pierced with an arabesque pattern and internally lit by coloured LEDs.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cut stainless-steel
Brief description
Architectural test piece for the Brick Lane Mosque minaret, designed by Tom Berndorfer and David Gallagher of David Gallagher Associates LLP and fabricated by m-tec, cut stainless-steel, designed London, fabricated Lancashire, 2009
Physical description
1:1 stainless-steel architectural test piece cut with an arabesque pattern. The prototype is half cylindrical in shape. The pattern has a brushed and mirrored finish.
Dimensions
  • Height: 101cm
  • Diameter: 102cm
Credit line
Given by Tom Berndorfer and David Gallagher
Production
The prototype is 1:1 scale but is fabricated at half-height of the finished minaret sections and is only half-cylinder.
Summary
In 2009 DGA were appointed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to design the Brick Lane Cultural Trail - a series of sculptural elements along the length of Brick Lane. The centrepiece of the trail is a 29m-high minaret-like structure positioned outside the Brick Lane Mosque. Eight cylinders fabricated in stainless steel and illuminated from within form the body of the tower. It is not officially a minaret because it does not emit the call to prayer, but it functions visually as a marker for the mosque. DGA worked closely with the council and the mosque to agree on a design that satisfied both the planners and the mosque community.

The addition of the minaret-like structure to Brick Lane mosque was a significant moment for the mosque community. Several planning applications for the addition of minarets, finials and a dome had been refused, but permission was finally granted in 2009 for a 29m-high minaret-like structure. This was permitted on the condition that it would be separate from the Georgian building and would be taken down if it ever stopped being used as a mosque. In order to facilitate a free-standing structure, the pavement had to be widened and the entrance to the building’s basement re-routed. Positioned on a Bath stone base, the stainless-steel structure is pierced with an arabesque pattern and internally lit by coloured LEDs.
Collection
Accession number
E.871-2022

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Record createdOctober 12, 2021
Record URL
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