Monumental ego: a model of Saddam's planned mosque. It will be the world's largest. Currently under construction. Total estimated cost exceeds One Billion dollars. The model itself fills a large meeting room at an estimated cost of $500,000.00. French architect, Jacques Barriere, has been commissioned to design the structure, which will cover an area near Baghdad the size of 12 football pitches.It will be surrounded by a moat in which the crowning touch will be an island formed in the shape of Saddam's thumb, with the ground contoured exactly to match the leader's fingerprint. "It is so that when God looks down on this mosque he will see Saddam too," said Soler.