Diriyah Biennale Foundation announced the names of this years Al-Musalla Award participants

The participants in the Al-Musalla Award, an international architectural design competition organized by the Islamic Arts Biennale, were named by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation on Sunday. The Islamic Arts Biennale's second edition, which connects Islamic civilization's past and present through the arts, will be held in Jeddah from January to May of 2025. 

The Islamic Arts Biennale will return in 2025, with an enlarged focus on Islamic cultural architecture, and it will be held in the Western Pilgrims Hall at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah. The Islamic Arts Biennale's second edition seeks to introduce a new prize for designing a "musalla," or little mosque or prayer area.

International architects are invited to compete in the competition to design the venue that will be erected on the biennial site. 

AAU Anastas Engineering Office from Palestine, Sahel Al-Hiyari from Jordan, East Architectural Studio from Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, Dabbagh Architectural Engineering from Saudi Arabia, and Asif Khan from the United Kingdom are among the teams who were chosen to participate. 

Each of them was selected to compete based on their prior work, as well as their demonstrated expertise and experience in the domains of Islamic architecture and art.

Each team must offer a concept for a flexible, long-lasting design that satisfies all specifications for the prayer and meeting area. 

The competitors must adhere to a few rules during the process, such as creating the space on no less than 50 square meters. 

The chairman of the judging committee, Prince Nawaf bin Ayyaf, will reveal the recipient of the award later this year on behalf of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation.

Visitors from all around the world will be able to see the selected design during the four months when the Islamic Arts Biennale will be held in Jeddah's Western Pilgrims Hall.