Selected Events 2006

December 6, 2006.
Dr. Omar Khalidi from MIT in Cambridge presented an illustrated survey of mosque architecture in the U.S. on Dec. 6 at the Amerika Haus in Cologne. Of the 2,000 mosques in America, only about 150 were designed during the last 50 years. The architecture of mosques and Islamic centers built in the U.S. today reflect the diversity of the Muslim communities and their growing desire to transcend national characteristics and embrace American styles, designs, and materials.

Dr. Khalidi talked about Muslim life in America, the great variety of religious diversity and ethnicity among American Muslims, and how this diversity is reflected in the architecture of the mosques in the United States. Dr. Khalidi explained the three types of mosque architecture that now flourish in the United States: the traditional "implanted" design, the synthesized "adapted" design, and the unprecedented "innovative" style. He also showed photos of American mosques from the exhibit "Mosques in North America," which is currently travelling through Germany.

Catalog of the exhibit "Mosques in North America"