The Mosques of Abdel Wahed El-Wakil

Few contemporary architects of the Islamic world have received the international acclaim and recognition enjoyed by the Londonbased Egyptian architect, Abdel Wahed El-Wakil. His work has been published in international architectural journals including Architectural Design, Architectural Review, and MlMAR.l Leon Krier, the renowned European architect, has referred to El-Wakil's work as the "light after a long, dark tunnel, the shining tip of an iceberg, the precious trickle of an underground stream which has at last broken to the surface.,,2 In his A Vision if Britain, A Personal View of Architecture, Prince Charles describes El-Wakil as an architect of "considerable skills," and as one of Hassan Fathy's "most gifted students".3 He has received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture twice: the first time in 1980 for the Halawa house in 'Agamy, Egypt, and the second in 1989 for the Corniche mosque in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.