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More than 1,200 mosques and Islamic centers have existed in this country,
according to a survey conducted in the latter part of the 1990s, but fewer than
100 were actually designed as mosques. The survey revealed that most Islamic
congregations in the United States began in buildings that had been constructed
for other purposes - fire stations, theaters, warehouses, and shops.
The situation changed, however, after 1965 when the first
large-scale influx of Muslims from various countries came to
the United States. Mosques then began to be built for the sole
purpose of ministering to the Muslim community as houses of
worship and community centers. The great variety of religious
diversity and ethnicity among American Muslims today is
reflected in the variety of building design and
organization.
The photographer and chronicler of mosque
architecture, Dr. Omar Khalidi, a senior research scholar at
the Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, explains
the three types of mosque architecture that now flourish in
the United States.
"First, there are mosques that
embody a traditional design transplanted from one - or several
- Islamic lands," Dr. Khalidi points out. "Second, there are
those that represent a reinterpretation of tradition,
sometimes combined with elements of American architecture.
Third are the designs that are entirely innovative, like those
of the Islamic Society of North America's headquarters in
Plainfield, Indiana."
Most of the mosques in all three
categories also function as classrooms, libraries, conference
centers, bookshops, kitchens, and social halls, even as
residential apartments.
Another important
consideration in mosque architecture is the space for women to
worship. In America, women generally are an integral part of
mosque activities and play a very active role in the Muslim
community. In a typical American Muslim family, the entire
family turns out for worship, necessitating separate space for
women, usually at a mezzanine level.
In many
instances, mosque architecture in North America reflects the
prevailing building designs of the area. "Over time a standard
design will evolve which will be a happy blend between
nostalgia and innovation," Dr. Khalidi predicts. "The new
emerging mosques in the West are a far cry from just domes and
minarets." |
Downtown New York City (© Wolfgang Hoyt/Esto/Architect Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill)
In Tempe, Arizona, a more traditional mosque with dome and minaret.
Islamic Cultural Center of Washington, D.C
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