Table Of Content
- 'Extra classes': As some UAE students return to school after 2 weeks, teachers tackle post-flood challenges
- A Closer Look: Inside Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House
- UAE's Abrahamic Family House opens to the public
- Inside Walt Disney’s Storybook Mansion, newly restored and (occasionally) open to the public

Entering the Abrahamic Family House is free of charge, with the exception of guided tours. It is currently only accessible to worshipers but will open to the general public on March 1. “We recognise that the only strategy that will reduce and eventually eliminate conflict emerging from religious or cultural differences is direct action to find common ground among people of all nations,” said Sheikh Nahyan. “The UAE has a proud history of people from diverse communities working together to create new possibilities,” wrote Sheikh Mohamed on Twitter. The design of the mosque's exterior is characterised by seven white arches symbolising the seven skies in Islam and the seven days of the week.
'Extra classes': As some UAE students return to school after 2 weeks, teachers tackle post-flood challenges
The mosque is facing the holy city of Makkah and can accommodate up to 322 worshippers standing shoulder to shoulder. Outside the church is a baptistry, a shallow pool shaped in the form of a perfect triangle, which is another Christian symbol of divinity. Also noteworthy are the two uneven columns at the entrance of the church which express descent (incarnation) and ascent (resurrection) that are central to the Christian faith. Throughout the venue, there are small calming pools of water, a symbolic element of purity, designed in the shape of a triangle, denoting the three religions on site.
A Closer Look: Inside Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House
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This architectural project arose as a result of the UAE declaring 2019 as the Year of Tolerance. “The Abrahamic Family House is a space to learn and to get together,” a representative told invited journalists at a press preview this week. The Abrahamic Family House's design, by Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye, captures the values shared between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The names of the three houses of worship are Imam Al Tayeb Mosque, St Francis Church and Moses ben Maimon Synagogue.
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UAE's Abrahamic Family House opens to the public
The multilayered facade recalls the Jewish Sukkot festival, when palm trees are harvested and communities build tents in their gardens as designated areas for gathering and eating. A marble floor covers a central garden area, where visitors can sit and enjoy the peaceful surroundings. News from Dezeen Events Guide, a listings guide covering the leading design-related events taking place around the world.
“Visitors are invited to experience each of the three houses of worship and discover the key tenets of each Abrahamic faith. Each building is a perfect 30-metre cube, with austere interiors, and can accommodate between 200 and 320 worshippers, depending on whether they are seated or standing shoulder to shoulder. The crucifix in the middle of the prayer hall is absent of detailed features, designed as such to welcome all denominations of Christianity. In contrast to most Catholic churches, there are no representations of Jesus or the Holy Trinity. The geometric pattern covering the windows is inspired by Mashrabiyya, a traditional Islamic architecture, allowing natural light to filter through the latticework in patterns on the floor. The white marble interior has several ceiling domes to amplify sound as it travels around the room.
The synagogue's layout was designed to be "as flexible as possible" to allow for changing seating formations, depending on the congregation, and includes a traditional mikveh – a bath used for ritual immersion. Other design elements within the church include geometric pews formed from traditional hard-wearing oak and a purposefully minimal central crucifix that aims to welcome worshippers from all denominations. These were designed to evoke the notion of "a shower of ecstatic redemption", according to the architecture studio. The mikveh is located adjacent to the entrance and is composed of limestone walls. A skylight punctures through a textured, monolithic ceiling, allowing light from above to enter the intimate space of the mikveh. Along two corners of the courtyard are spaces for ablution, screened by bronze gates that formally echo the seven arches that break up each façade of the exterior form.
A metallic bronze structure, emanating natural light and shaped like a curtain, hovers up by the roof. Our guide says the zigzag shapes of the structure are similar to tents and represent Jewish communities of old congregating to practise their religion. Designed by Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye, the Abrahamic Family House is welcoming worshippers before it officially opens to the public next Wednesday. Lillian Disney’s original gardens haven’t survived on Woking Way to this day, but retired Disney Imagineer Tania Norris is designing new rose gardens for the property, including Snow White roses for the Snow White play cottage. Unfortunately, Lillian Disney miscarried the couple’s first pregnancy, but the family soon grew with the addition of daughters Diane in 1933 and Sharon in 1936. The Disney family would live at Woking Way until 1950 when they had a larger house built in Holmby Hills, which had a large garden to indulge Lillian’s passion for gardening.

A criss-cross design in wood rises 30m above a shrouded, sanctified area of communal prayer in the centre. The metal mesh material that hangs above the worshippers symbolises the tents in which people used to pray. According to the architecture firm, the plinth references the universal concept of a mound, which intends to move people closer to higher things and encourage interfaith dialogue. With access to each chamber’s courtyard, it is a place of convergence, rather than divergence. A destination in itself, the raised garden creates a viewing platform to take in all three religious structures, promoting a sense of harmony and interconnectivity whilst asserting their individualism. Light filters through the delicate GRP latticework of the mashrabiya screens, which circulate air while maintaining privacy.
The Welcome Centre
And finally, the country’s first purpose-built synagogue is named after Moses Ben Maimon, a Jewish philosopher who was born in 12th century Cordoba, Andalusia. The synagogue, showing on its walls Judaism’s Ten Commandments, heavily features triangles in its architecture, referring to Prophet Abraham's tent, an emblem of security and hospitality. Meanwhile, His Eminence Ahmed El-Tayeb Mosque has seven arches, a significant number in Islam, on its facade. Under a high ceiling, its exterior and interior walls are embellished with bedazzling patterns, welcoming natural light inside.
The carpets have lines to guide worshippers to face the Kaaba in Makkah, the holiest place of worship for Muslims. The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities in the GCC countries said there was something special about a synagogue being built in a Muslim country, which sends a strong message to other countries. Saadiyat Island is home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a Jean Nouvel-designed art gallery that opened in 2017. "I believe architecture should work to enshrine the kind of world we want to live in, a world of acceptance, openness, and constant advancement," said Adjaye.
Later, Disney had an even larger home built on Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, where Lillian had more room to enjoy her passion for gardening. Regan said he’s grateful that the home was never extensively remodeled, as many older houses have been. While none of the original furnishings are still in the house, “everything looks original,” Regan said, adding that costly renovations have brought the home back to its original 30s-40s look. Despite their increasing wealth and fame, the Disneys were not your typical Hollywood couple.
A unique complex that is home to a mosque, church and synagogue offers visitors and worshippers a fascinating insight into the practices and traditions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex designed by architect David Adjaye that contains a church, a synagogue and a mosque, has opened in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House is already welcoming worshippers to its mosque, church and synagogue, and from March 1 visitors can also tour the premises. The iconic geometric architecture of three cubes, representing the separate places of worship, evokes the unified commonality and mutual coexistence between the three religions. At the same time, the design reflects traditional architecture while retaining the individual traits of each of the three faiths. At its centre are the 10 Commandments of God given to Moses and the people written in Hebrew; while a couple of nine-branched menorahs or candelabrum are placed on the left and right side.
Made of regionally sourced limestone, the buildings reveal facades that are lined with pillars. Each exterior design has its own meaning, depending on its corresponding faith. The Catholic church, called His Holiness Francis Church, can seat up to 300 people. Inside, a large cross looms over the podium and a sea of wooden beams fall from its ceiling. The thoughtfully executed complex features three modernistic and cube-like houses of worship, sharing the same scale of 30 meters high, wide and deep.
Separate, external ablution spaces for men and women are constructed in concrete and shaped like an inverted pyramid and inverted sphere respectively. A suspended bronze mesh tent descends from a central skylight inside, echoing the tent-like structure of sukkahs already referenced on the exterior, as well as the original tabernacle. Sir David Adjaye OBE is an award-winning Ghanaian-British architect, whose ingenious use of materials, bespoke designs, and visionary sensibilities have set him apart as one of the leading architects of his generation. Here’s our quick guide to the Abrahamic Family House timings and visiting hours for each place of worship.
The multi-faith complex has attracted global attention for its message of religious tolerance as well as its striking architectural design. The names of the three separate iconic houses of worship in the Abrahamic Family House complex are officially unveiled as “Imam AlTayeb Mosque,” “St. Moses ben Maimon was a prolific and influential Sephardic Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages. Ornate chandeliers, a feature of most mosques, are replaced by discreet and powerful spotlights. The high ceilings are domed so the sound richly reverberates, while the soft auburn-coloured carpet comes with ingrained lines to guide worshippers when standing in prayer. The recently opened Abrahamic Family House truly brings people and cultures together — with every design and detail not only embracing diversity, but also promoting humanity and nurturing mutual religious understanding.
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