What has the ‘Saint Nicolas Church’ in La Roche-en-Ardenne, my hometown in Belgium in common with the ‘Sultan Qaboos Mosque’ in Salalah in the southern part of Oman. Both were built for worship. For the decoration they both used stone in a special way.
The floor of the main hall of the ‘Saint Nicolas Church,’ consists of 100.000 pieces of slate of Vielsalm, a typical stone of the Ardennes. With patience and by levelling the slate plates, unique geometric figures were created. Sunlight through the stained glass windows underlines the beauty of the design.
For the panelled wall decoration of the Mihrab in the main prayer hall of ‘Sultan Qaboos Mosque’ in Salalah, 20.000 miniaturized pieces of different types of marble were used. It took four months to fix the pieces on panels by using water jet cutting and laser. The sunlight and the several colours of the wall underline the soft and serene atmosphere of this prayer house.
al'arba 