USU PUBLIC RELATIONS - One form of this effort has been made by the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sumatera Utara, which collaborated with the Haji Anif Foundation in holding the Al-Musannif Mosque Architecture Development Design Project Competition. The competition, whose activity process began on April 14, 2021, with the opening of registration for participants until June 23, 2021, was officially closed on July 21, 2021. The official closing, which was also accompanied by awarding prizes to the winners, was held in a hybrid ceremony at the official residence of the Vice Governor of North Sumatra, Jalan Tengku Daud Medan. All winners attended the event, both online and offline.

The competition, which featured three types of competitions, namely the competition for the Al-Musanif Mosque mihrab design project, the competition for the 99 mosque architectural model project, and the competition for the architectural expansion of the Al-Musanif Mosque building, succeeded in attracting interesting designs from new talents, practitioners, and architecture enthusiasts from all over Indonesia.

The Vice Governor of North Sumatra, Drs. H. Musa Rajekshah, M.Hum, who also serves as Chairman of the H. Anif Foundation, explained that the competition in the field of mosque design was the first time held by the H. Anif Foundation. The creative idea came up when the H. Anif Foundation board was thinking about activities to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of H. Anif, which fell on the 23rd. Anif, which falls on March 23, 2021. In previous years, on the birthday of the founder of the H. Anif Foundation, MTQ activities were always held throughout Indonesia. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic not yet subsided, similar activities are impossible to carry out because they will create crowds that can create new pandemic clusters in the community. Finally, the idea to hold a competition and collaborate with the USU Faculty of Engineering's Department of Architecture, which is considered experienced in handling these activities, was born.

Due to the pandemic situation, MTQ was not possible. In addition, because our parents also intend to build 99 mosques starting this year, implementing this competition is in line with what is desired so that our parents' intentions can be realized immediately. We hope that the mosque will be characterized by its architecture so that it will attract people to worship there, he said.

In addition, he added that the essence of the competition was the desire of his party so that the passion for creativity from the people of North Sumatra could emerge. "We know many North Sumatra architects can be present here even though we open the competition nationally. In addition, we also from the H. Anif Foundation want to arouse the enthusiasm of young people in the construction of mosques," he explained.

He explained that the Al-Musanif Mosque was built in 1997 and is currently undergoing development. Apart from being a place of worship, the Al-Musannif Mosque will also be a place to build the people's economy, SME centers, and various other positive activities.

USU Rector Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., M.Si., as the chief organizer of the competition, stated that this activity is a blessing that brings many benefits to the community and the academic world because it can enrich the talents and architecture of North Sumatra, so it must be made massively.

This competition is also an honor for USU because it spurs the creativity of young people, who must continue to be encouraged. Moreover, architecture is closely related to a community's civilization, both in the form of physical infrastructure, roads, houses, and things related to heritage. This implies that a community's civilization is not stagnant but develops continuously.

"This competition is also a trigger and a medium for the nation's children to be creative with their best works. Whether in the form of writings, drawings, or other work that an independent team assesses, it is rewarded in the form of prizes and other rewards. Of course, there are losers and winners in a competition. However, losing does not mean that it is not better than winning. It's just that a work's creativity needs to be assessed. Don't be overproud for those who win because the assessment of work here and there will have revisions and adjustments. We must be able to introspect to improve the products produced," he said.

The Rector also hoped that the documents from the competition could become a reference for the Department of Architecture, USU Faculty of Engineering, and an example for students and the community. Ideas about reliable architecture will be very much needed, especially those that adopt local wisdom to have characteristics and character in certain regions. Almost all buildings, especially those in urban areas, are practically the same shape and no longer have characteristics.

"We need to enrich physical buildings that adopt local wisdom, such as houses, offices, and houses of worship. A house of worship is important because many people visit it. This competition also supports the efforts to produce new talents of excellent architects in the community," concluded Dr. Muryanto.

For two competitions, namely the competition for the Al-Musanif Mosque Mihrab design project and the competition for the 99 Mosque architectural model project, the awards, and prizes were handed over on May 11, 2021, which coincided with the month of Ramadan. On July 21, 2021, prizes were handed over to the winners of the Design Competition for the Development / Expansion of the Architecture of the Al Musannif Mosque Building. Septian Ivan Putra won the first prize of 50 million rupiah from Surabaya, the second place was won by Syandy Diantrisna Kusuma from Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, the third place was won by Hari Hajaruddin Siregar from Medan. At the same time, the favorite winner was Fenny Ida Pratiwi from Bekasi.

After the event, Dr. Musa Rajekshah stated that the results of this championship would be taken for the construction of 99 mosques. Many collections of pictures will be distributed to close families in need and the Indonesian Mosque Council. The synergy with USU will be continued in various development activities involving the Haji Anif Foundation so that the passion of young people who have talents in the field of architecture emerges.

Also present at the event were the Head of the Committee and Head of the USU Department of Architecture, Dr. Ir. Dwira Nirfalini Aulia, M.Sc, IPM, Ir. Nurlisa Ginting, M.Sc, Ph.D, IPM (Director of Competition Execution and Head of the USU Master's and Doctoral Program in Architecture), Ir. N. Vinky Rahman, M.T. (Director of Competition Execution and Head of Architect Professional Education at the Universitas Sumatera Utara), M. Safii Sitepu, S. Ag, S.H., and Marianto, S.T. (Steering Committee from Yayasan Haji Anif), and the Competition Organizing Committee (Wahyu Abdillah, Aya Maharani, and Fitri Rahmawati Nasution, S.T.). (RJ)