Evaluation analysis of space elements of the mosque's inner courtyard in Nanjing City from the Arab users' view

In order to promote the development of the relationship between China and the Islamic world and meet the cultural needs of Muslims when using mosques in China, this study focuses on the design of mosques in a multi-cultural context. Mosques are an integral part of the China and the Muslims’ society due to their unique style and features. The courtyard is a common element in the design of mosques, and its components vary depending on regional traditions of the time and place where it was built. With the growth of interest in the term of human needs and participation between designer and users in evaluating the design quality, this study summarizes the modern and traditional Chinese mosque courtyard design for Arabian Muslim users in order to evaluate whether their physical and spiritual needs are being appropriately met or not. A questionnaire was distributed to Arab Muslims living in the city of Nanjing to discuss the quality evaluation of traditional and modern mosques’ courtyard design. Through the analysis of seven natural and physical key issue elements in the design of the courtyard, the functional characteristics and configurations are analyzed. The results can be used to improve the design of the new mosque in future by using the vocabulary that accomplishes the architectural fusion of both Chinese and Islamic culture, as well as aesthetic and functional aspects.

中外清真寺庭院特征分析比较研究——以中国沿海清真寺为例

重点分析了中国3个沿海省份的清真寺院落构成,反映了中国文明的影响,界定其对清真寺质量设计的影响。通过实地考察、文献查询、数据分析等研究手段收集大量的相关资料,发现与其他清真寺庭院相比,中国清真寺庭院有明显的不同之处:植物作为自然元素的大量运用与水元素的相对较少使用。此外,最大的特点是景观装饰元素的使用和连续庭院被门分隔的形象,而在之前设计中却没有出现。总之,中国清真寺庭院不同于其他清真寺庭院,其通过丰富的自然元素设计呈现出独特的自然模式。