Sheikh Zayed Mosque 2

Abu Dhabi's grand mosque is among the most photographed buildings in the modern Gulf, and this model goes after the reason why: a horizon of onion domes stepping down from the great central dome, slender minarets pinned at the corners, and long arcaded walls running between them around the courtyard. As a scale-model subject it is unusually rewarding, because the interest lies in repetition. Arch after arch, dome after dome, and that rhythm still reads clearly once the building is shrunk to display size. It suits an architecture shelf, a study of Islamic building forms, or a landmark piece sitting among a collection of world monuments. Modellers assembling a Gulf streetscape or a diorama with a skyline will get far more from it than from another generic block, since a recognisable landmark gives a scene its sense of place immediately. Supplied as a single file.