Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Jumu'ah Masjid - Kerk Street Mosque Johannesburg, Gauteng Muhammad MAYET: Architect

Date: 1991 Type: Mosque Status: Extant   Click to view map Coordinates: 26°12'11.20" S 28°02'16.89" E Alt: 1755m

The first mosque on this site was a wood and iron building built in 1906. This was replaced in 1918 with an attractive square, two-storey building with a three-tiered minaret on each corner (see Jumu'ah Masjid (Jooma Masgid) Mosque, Kerk Street Mosque (Second)). In the 1980s it became too small for the Muslim community and they approached the National Monuments Council to have it replaced. The NMC was reluctant but eventually gave in and the building was demolished in 1989 to be replaced with the current one completed in 1991. (City of Johannesburg) Kerk Street Mosque in Johannesburg consists of 1,2 million bricks. The very large structure required a period of rest for settlement of the structural brickwork comprising many brick vaults, arches and other compressive structures before plastering and decoration could begin. The photographs above were taken during construction, the beautiful brickwork has since been plastered by master craftsman especially trained and skilled in the traditions of decorative gypsum plaster All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. References: LE ROUX, S. 1994. Islam and conservation: The Juma Masgied as case study. Journal of the Institute of South African ArchitectsJul/Aug Wegelin, Hans. 1994. Argiknepe : lasdraende steenwerk. Architecture SAVol 76, Issue 7. pp 38 Anonymous. 1994. Mosque features 'finest' brickwork . South African construction worldVol 13, Issue 11. pp 32-33 Mayet, M. 1994. The City Room : Kerk Street Jumah Masgied . Architecture SAVol 76, Issue 7. pp 26-28 Anonymous. 2004. Kerk St. Mosque : works of consequence. Architecture South Africa. Supplement. Special issue : the design of democracyVol 15, Issue 1. pp 26-30 Nuttall, Jean. 1990. The Kerk Street Mosque, Johannesburg . PlanningVol 17, Issue 109. pp 36-40 Fisher, RC, Le Roux, SW & Maré, E (Eds). 1998. Architecture of the Transvaal. Pretoria: UNISA. pg 128, 175-196, 128, 175-196, 214, 215, 216 Lipman, Alan Robert. 2003. Architecture on my mind : critical readings in design. Pretoria: Unisa Press. pg 168-173 Muwanga, Christina. 1998. South Africa : a guide to recent architecture. London : Köln: Ellipsis : Könemann. pg 142-145