A perforated, blanket-like roof of stone-clad steelwork covers the Al-Mujadilah Centre and Mosque for Women in Qatar, which has been completed by American studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Located in Doha's Education City, Al-Mujadilah – meaning "she who engages in dialogue" – combines social and educational spaces with the first purpose-built contemporary mosque for women in the Muslim world.

The 4,600-square-metre project, conceived by Qatar Foundation's chairperson Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, draws on the mosque's role as not only a religious space but an educational and civic one. Diller Scofidio + Renfro sought to reflect this in its architectural form.

Interior view of Al-Mujadilah Centre and Mosque for Women
Diller Scofidio + Renfro has completed a contemporary mosque in Qatar
"The mosque's role of seamlessly bringing together worship and study under one roof led to the building’s distinguishing architectural feature," explained studio co-founder Elizabeth Diller.

"Its undulating roof arches to shape a grand space for prayer at one end and morphs downward into a slung surface that shelters an intimate space for education at the other," she continued.

"As a woman, the project was a special opportunity for me to design a space exclusively for women that is flexible and responsive to real-time, everyday needs."