Istiqlal Mosque

Standing on 91,629 m² (986,286 sq ft) of land, the Grand Mosque of Istiqlal is easily the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, with the capacity to host up to 120,000 pilgrims. The name ‘Istiqlal’ means ‘independence’ in Arabic, as it was built to commemorate Indonesian independence and meant to be the national mosque. Located in Central Jakarta, the mosque was designed by architect Frederich Silaban in 1954. It took 17 years to build, led directly by President Soekarno, founding father and the first President of Indonesia.

Having remained essentially unchanged for 41 years, the mosque was due to undergo a major renovation, including architecture, landscaping, and new interior and exterior lighting to transform Istiqlal into an impressive landmark representing the pride of Indonesia. When the plan to renovate the mosque was finalized in 2018, Signify seized the opportunity to consult on upgrades to the interior and exterior lighting of the iconic structure. 

Completed in July 2020, the newly renovated Grand Mosque of Istiqlal was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on January 7, 2021. Signify provided connected LED lighting for the massive project. A total of 3,375 light fixtures were installed on the mosque’s main façade, main dome, small dome, façade of the minarets, corridors, and main prayer hall.

The interior lighting design concept was to provide the unique experience of praying in a mosque without a roof and changing scenery following prayers. On the exterior, the aim was to imitate moonlight - from full moon to super-blue blood moon - by lighting the main dome and minaret with dynamic flood lighting, as well as displaying unique lighting schemes during special events. This was accomplished using Color Kinetics ReachElite High Punch Powercore, IntelliHue. This long-throw exterior LED floodlight is equipped with IntelliHue technology, Color Kinetics advanced approach to color mixing, producing perfectly accurate, high-quality intelligent white light, subtle pastels, and fully saturated colors in the same precisely controllable luminaire. With this technology, the lighting on Istiqlal’s domes can represent natural phenomena, such as the various shades of moonlight. The system is controlled with a Pharos LPC X controller and powered by Color Kinetics Data Enabler Pro.

With the new lighting, Istiqlal Mosque looks even more beautiful and grand than before, befitting a building with significant historical and religious value.

“Signify’s broad portfolio for professional building and façade lighting allows us to design lighting according to the established concept, which is to beautify the existing building structures, as well as to create ambience appropriate to the majesty of this historical mosque." - Agust Danang Ismoyo, Principal Lighting Designer at Pavilion 95

“We are very proud to have participated in supporting and enhancing the Grand Mosque of Istiqlal as the pride of this country. This mosque is not only a place of worship, but also an icon to the city that has a great significance to the country. Therefore, highlighting its architectural uniqueness and majesty became our vision when concepting the lighting to play both functional and aesthetic roles.” - Dedy Bagus Pramono, Country Leader, Signify Indonesia

Read full press release.