The Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque
Jan Terje Nielsen
In central Oslo stands an impressive, intricately detailed mosque in blue. The façade recreates the original aesthetic, which featured Iranian ceramic tiles dating from 1999.
The tiles were not suited to the Norwegian climate, so it was not long before they began to deteriorate. After 20 years of wear and tear, and one previous replacement with new tiles, several had either fallen off or been removed. In 2019, the client contacted Steni to refurbish the façade.
The mosque is unique in Oslo and is listed as a building of heritage value. The cultural heritage authorities were therefore involved in the process. After reviewing façade samples and learning about Steni’s 60-year functional warranty, they selected Steni Vision Custom. It was the ideal product for this project, which required a completely unique design, a high level of design expertise and a durable material that would not need replacing.
Steni Vision Custom was selected to reproduce the pattern of the mosque’s original tiles
Recreating the original façade was a challenging yet exciting project. 10,000 high-resolution photographs were taken. Each ceramic panel on the original façade had a unique design, and every detail was documented. The images were used by Steni’s partner M2uur to digitally recreate 400 different panels and match them before they were printed on Steni Vision panels.