چكيده به لاتين
Abstract:
The growing population of Muslims in the western countries and their integration and co-existence with the host country’s society is an important phenomena. The architecture of a mosque and Islamic Centre, as a symbol of Islam and expression of Muslim presence in western cities, and a key aspect of the Muslim migrant’s identity, is of critical importance. Therefore, this study examines Islamic architecture with a focus on two key aspects of “maintaining the Islamic identity” while “improving co-existence” in design of Islamic centres in western cities.
A three stage model was used to achieve the aims of this project. In stage one, we began with a review of the existing literature on Islamic architecture on design of Islamic Centres in non-Muslim countries. Then we defined the two key concepts of co-existence and identity as the primary focus of this study. This was followed by developing a model using the three dimension of place, meaning, and function as the principal designing features, and with a focus on improving co-existence and maintaining the Islamic identity, to assess various aspect of Islamic architectural design. In order to do that, we initially used a survey to identify needs, views, and visual preferences of Islamic migrants in western countries. This was followed by review of existing cases of Mosques and Islamic centres and their design choices in non-Muslim countries. In this stage, we identified 10 cases and analysed them based on the two key parameters of co-existence and identity through interviews with a group on non-Muslims living in west. Through this analysis, we categorised these cases and identified their positive and negative aspects. We used these two sets of findings (the surveys and case studies) as the basis for identifying the important features of a framework for designing an Islamic Centre in a western country.
In the stage two of this study, we examined the city of Edinburgh (with a growing population of Muslims) from a landscape and cultural perspective. These information together with the framework designed in the earlier stage, were used to identify the physical and identity aspects of a Islamic Centre in Edinburgh. Based on the findings of the previous stage, we also identified a location in the city, that serves for the purpose of our Islamic Centre design.
In stage three, we used a combination of the features identified in the previous stages and our creative design ideas to design an Islamic Centre to be built in the city of Edinburgh. The underlying concept of this design was the features identified in our framework, to ensure that we offer an architecture that enhances co-existence with the host city while marinating the Islamic identity.
