The concepts presented in this article were conceived by ChatGPT, while the images were brought to life using a combination of advanced AI image generators and human artistry. As you immerse yourself in these visually stunning depictions, allow your imagination to soar and appreciate the harmonious fusion of tradition, innovation, and technology.

Byzantine-Inspired Cyber Mosque

Drawing from the rich history of Byzantine art and architecture, this concept combines traditional elements like mosaics, domes, and arches with futuristic cyberpunk aesthetics. The mosque features holographic calligraphy, neon-lit minarets, and a high-tech prayer hall.

Modern Babylonian Mosque

Inspired by the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, this concept fuses elements of Babylonian and Assyrian architecture with modern design and technology. The mosque features hanging gardens, ziggurat-inspired structures, and sustainable features such as solar panels and green roofs.

Timurid Techno-Mosque

This concept pays tribute to the Timurid Empire’s architectural legacy while incorporating cutting-edge technology and futuristic design elements. The mosque features a blend of ornate tilework, domes, and minarets with interactive LED displays, smart lighting, and advanced acoustics.

Umayyad Avant-Garde Mosque

Taking inspiration from the Umayyad Caliphate’s architectural heritage, this concept fuses traditional design elements like courtyards, arcades, and geometric patterns with avant-garde materials such as glass, metal, and kinetic sculptures.

Fatimid Fusion Mosque

This mosque concept celebrates the rich history of the Fatimid Caliphate by combining traditional elements like muqarnas, calligraphy, and domes with futuristic design features, such as energy-efficient lighting, advanced air filtration systems, and adaptive building materials.

Abbasid Augmented Reality Mosque

Drawing from the Abbasid Caliphate’s architectural style, this concept integrates traditional Islamic design elements like vaults, arches, and courtyards with augmented reality.

Mamluk Metamorphic Mosque

This concept pays homage to the Mamluk Dynasty’s architectural heritage while incorporating cutting-edge metamorphic materials that change according to environmental conditions. The mosque’s design features stone and brick patterns, decorative calligraphy, and adaptive facades that respond to light and temperature.

Ayyubid Aerodynamic Mosque

Inspired by the Ayyubid Dynasty’s architectural style, this concept combines traditional elements like domes, minarets, and geometric patterns with aerodynamic design principles. The mosque features wind turbines, kinetic sculptures, and streamlined shapes that optimize energy efficiency.

Seljuk Space-Age Mosque

This concept draws from the Seljuk Empire’s architectural legacy and fuses it with space-age aesthetics and technology. The mosque features a blend of traditional design elements like brickwork, minarets, and domes with futuristic materials, such as carbon fiber and nanotechnology.

Ghaznavid Galactic Mosque

Paying tribute to the Ghaznavid Dynasty’s architectural style, this concept combines traditional Islamic design features like geometric patterns, arches, and calligraphy with a galactic theme. The mosque incorporates planetarium-inspired domes, star-like lighting, and holographic displays.

Disclaimer: Please note that the concepts, prompts, and images presented in this article have been generated using artificial intelligence and may not align perfectly with historical facts. This post is intended to showcase the creative capabilities of AI and provide an enjoyable exploration of architectural possibilities. Enjoy the imaginative journey while keeping in mind the limitations of AI-generated content.

The post 10 Imaginary Mosque Designs: Merging Rich History, Present, and Future Through AI-Inspired Concepts first appeared on Prayers Connect.

How does it happen?

Once someone visits our site, we detect their IP address. Because we use Amazon CloudFront to serve our frontend traffic, we need to take extra care to make sure CloudFront forwards the user’s actual IP address. Otherwise, the IP address that we get in the origin server is an IP of the AWS systems. Here is the cloud function that is attached to Viewer Request to preserve the original IP.

function handler(event) {
    var request = event.request;
    var clientIP = event.viewer.ip;

    request.headers['x-user-ip'] = {value: clientIP};

    return request;
}

Once we receive the IP address, we geocode the IP address to get its coordinates, locality name etc. Once all these are retrieved, we redirect to a relevant page.

While all these are working very well so far, we got one problem. Geocoding IP an address takes time and the slowness is almost always embarrassingly noticeable. We were thinking to cache geocoding results. However, we prefer to maintain as less things as possible; especially when we have a better alternative.

CloudFront (CF) Request Headers

CloudFront has the ability to forward viewers’ approximate location info to the origin request. We decided to use this as we won’t have to maintain any caching infra for IP geocoding. As we use terraform to create the CF distribution, all we had to add the forwarding headers to the list like following

forwarded_values {
      query_string = true
      headers      = [
        "Authorization",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Latitude",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Longitude",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Country-Region-Name",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Country",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Country-Name",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-City",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Region-Name",
        "CloudFront-Viewer-Postal-Code",
      ]
    }

In our backend, we actually kept both mechanisms. First, we tap into this ready geo data. If they are not available, we fall-back to legacy IP geocoding. However, when geodata from CF is available, now the page is rendered almost instantly. I hope our users will appreciate this increased speed.

Notes on the landing page

We show landing pages in two cases:

• We do not support the country (yet; as we’re working to be fully global)
• We could not determine the user’s location. Note: For initial routing, we do not use the GeoLocation service.

What’s Next

Currently, the redirection happens from our server. It may be possible to redirect users directly from the cloud function which will improve the experience even further. We’ll investigate that soon.

If this sounds interesting or you have a better idea, consider joining our team as a volunteer.

The post Using CloudFront request headers to speed up page loading first appeared on Prayers Connect.