Medina Haram Piazza Shading Umbrellas or Al-Masjid An-Nabawi Umbrellas are convertible umbrellas erected in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The shade of each umbrella is extended in the four corners, with a total area covered of 143,000 square meters. These umbrellas are aimed to protect worshipers from the heat of the sun during

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

, as well as from the risk of slipping and falling in the event of rain. Similar structures are built at the square of the mosques worldwide. At Al-Masjid An-Nabawi, there are a total of 250 umbrellas. who ordered the construction of umbrellas for the squares of the mosque, which was overseen by The project was completed in August 2010, which initially included the construction of 182 umbrellas aligning the pillars of the mosques at the square, and later 68 umbrellas were added in the eastern square, totaling 250 umbrellas. The project cost was 4.7 billion riyals. contracted the project's structural planning with the Germanarchitectural company

Liebherr Liebherr () is a German-Swiss multinational corporation, multinational equipment manufacturer based in Bulle, Switzerland, with its main production facilities and origins in Germany. Liebherr consists of over 130 companies organized into 11 divi ...

. From the beginning of the planning, the

PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off fro ...

fabric was needed to meet the exceptional requirements, as any other fabric does not provide full protection from

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

. The fabric is characterized by high tensile strength, wind strength, and its elasticity, chromatic stability, fire resistance, effective shading and suitable light penetration. The highly durable PTFE white fabric was developed by

SEFAR Sefar Group is a Swiss company specialized in screen printing and filtration applications. It is based in Heiden and Thal. Since its founding, it has specialized in the development, production, and distribution of precision fabrics. It has a hi ...

Architecture specifically for the project. The shade is painted in white color due to the intensity of light, and because strong permeability can dazzle people under the umbrella, a sandy texture was chosen instead. In addition, the underside of the umbrellas was decorated with oriental motifs made of blue PTFE stripes.Medina Haram Piazza.
''Architect Magazine''. Retrieved November 14, 2017

Use of advanced composites

Each single open umbrella structure of spans an area of . As the components for each umbrella are so large and also have to withstand potentially extreme climatic conditions, the cladding needed to be made from advanced composites. Premier Composite Technologies LLC was commissioned to build and install the mosaic tiled, external claddings for all 250 units of foldable umbrellas. The arm claddings and cladding attachments were built from a lightweight composite sandwich structure of glass fibre epoxy resin laminate, providing high torsional stiffness. They were then fixed to the flexible umbrella arm systems. When closed, the arms cover the membrane while additional claddings on top of the arms form a prismatic casing to protect the folded Teflon membrane.

Similar examples around the world

Al Hussein Mosque The al-Hussein Mosque or al-Husayn Mosque, also known as the Mosque of al-Imam al-Husayn () and the Mosque of Sayyidna al-Husayn, is a mosque and mausoleum of Husayn ibn Ali, originally built in 1154, and then later reconstructed in 1874. The m ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque Baiturrahman Grand Mosque (; Acehnese: ''Meuseujid Raya Baiturrahman'') is a mosque located in Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia. The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is a symbol of religion, culture, spirit, strength, struggle, and nationalism of the Acehne ...

Banda Aceh Banda Aceh (; , Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra and has an elevation of 35 metres. The city covers an area of and had a population of 223,446 peopl ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

References

{{Islamic architecture Islamic architecture in Asia Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Umbrellas Passive cooling