exhibitions

CONTEMPORARY MOSQUE ARCHITECTURE

How Visible May Or Should The Mosque Be In The European Cityscape?

21/01 – 07/03/2020

Opening and Round Table: Tuesday, 21/01/2020, 7pm
Murat Arslan, Vice Chairman of the Islamic Cultural Center, 1020
Uschi Lichtenegger, representative of the district Leopoldstadt
Gerhard Springer, architect of the Islamic Cultural Center Graz

curated and moderated by Negar Hakim
Venue: philomena+, Heinestraße 40, 1020 Vienna
Fr 3pm – 7pm and Sa 11am – 1pm or on request at +43(0)6502255937

Gerhard Springer, Islamisches Kulturzentrum Graz, 2012–2020 © the architect

philomena+ presents outstanding examples of contemporary mosques from Europe, which were discussed in the course “Contemporary Sacred Architecture of Islam” at the Vienna University of Technology in the research area “History of Architecture and Building Archaeology”. The space, architecture and construction of historical mosques were examined and the changes in use and benefits of newer mosques were researched.

What could a mosque look like in the age of globalization? This is a question that gained new importance at the international level due to the growing labor and refugee migration from Islamic countries to Western and Central Europe.

Here, the visibility of Islam in public space, especially in the form of representative mosques, is associated with social and political conflicts. Most of the mosques that have been designed and often built in recent years have provoked fierce discussion and rejection despite decades of cultural diversity.

One effect of this controversy is that the critical question as to whether prayer houses in today’s world really need to have the traditional building elements is raised. Specifically, the dome and the minaret and their necessity for functionality and to be perceived by the religious community as a dignified establishment – because it is precisely these that are reacted to sensitively. philomena+ asks whether architects can contribute to defusing emerging conflicts with creative, contemporary solutions.

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