Umbrellas in Masjid an-Nabawi

Located in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia, Masjid an-Nabawī is one of the largest mosque in the world, the Islam’s second-holiest mosque built by the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). The mosque has gone through many changes through years, until German designers, SL-Rasch, in collaboration with SEFAR Architecture came up with an ingenious way that improved the mosque’s natural micro-climate without destroying its architectural character. In November 2010, they completed the plantation of a forest of  giant foldable sunshades, each being almost 20 meters tall.They were the largest umbrellas built up to that time and are really something unseen. The stunning umbrellas work together to constitute the convertible shading roof of either of the mosque’s courts, having a total of 143,000 m2, which is larger than the floor area of the mosque itself. To have the expected result and provide pilgrims with optimal shade and environment, the high tech sunscreens are made of a special material named PTFE fabric, which satisfies the rigorous standards required by the customer and resist the aggressive UV radiation. Besides that, the material has an extremely high tensile strength owing to wind load, colorfastness, fire resistance, maximum flexibility,  as well as effective shading and appropriate light transmission.

References: 

[1].  http://designlike.com/high-tech-giant-umbrellas-improve-al-masjid-al-nabawi-mosques-natural-micro-climate