MADINAH — Emir of Madinah Prince Faisal bin Salman visited the renowned architect Dr. Rasem Badran at his home in Madinah. The visit was on the occasion of his assignment to prepare the designs for the King Salman Project for the Quba Mosque Expansion, which was launched by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. With the new expansion, tipped to be the largest expansion in the history of the mosque since its establishment, includes developing the mosque's surroundings. The total area of the mosque will be increased by tenfold with a capacity to accommodate 66,000 worshipers on a total area spreading over 50,000 square meters. During the meeting, Prince Faisal bin Salman, who is also chairman of the Madinah Region Development Authority (MRDA), praised the great care given by King Salman to the Quba Mosque. "This project, which is being implemented by MRDA, aims to accommodate the largest number of worshipers during peak season. This is in addition to highlighting the religious importance, documenting its historical characteristics, preserving its urban and architectural style, and enhancing and preserving the historical monuments associated with it," the emir said. Prince Faisal bin Salman spoke about the importance of completing all detailed design work for the project during the coming period, taking into account the continuity of performing prayers in the mosque during the period of implementing the project. Under the plan, the existing mosque will be preserved with safeguarding all environmental, cultural, economic and social aspects. The meeting witnessed a review of the role of the committee, which includes a number of senior architects specialized in the field of architecture and development of historical mosques, to develop the initial idea for designing the project and formulating engineering ideas in a manner commensurate with the nature of the project and the status of this historical Islamic landmark. This is aimed at enriching the visitor's experience and developing and reviving the Prophet's sites and monuments within the scope of the mosque and its courtyards. The expansion project aims to accommodate the largest number of worshipers during the peak seasons and highlighting the religious importance. The historical characteristics of the Quba Center with its urban and architectural style will be preserved, and the historical monuments located near the mosque will be protected. Dr. Badran is considered as one of the towering figures of contemporary Arab architecture, with an outstanding career record full of achievements and experiences by working on the detailed designs of the King Salman Project for the Quba Mosque Expansion and the development of the surrounding area, in addition to the project to develop the Khandaq area in Madinah. Badran is holder of architectural engineering degree from the Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany. He was a Jordanian national of Palestinian descent but in 2022 he gained Saudi nationality as an honor for his achievements in architecture in Saudi Arabia. He has won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, received for the design of the Prince Turki bin Abdullah Mosque of Riyadh, Qasr Hukm, and redevelopment of Riyadh Old City Center. The Council of Ministers approved in July 2022 the transfer of the task of supervising the Quba Mosque to the MRDA instead of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance. The Quba Mosque is the first mosque supervised by the authority while it is considered as the second largest mosque after the Prophet's Mosque in the Madinah region. With the completion of the expansion project, Quba Mosque will become the third largest mosque in Saudi Arabia, in terms of capacity after the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah
