CONTEMPORARY BRITISH MOSQUE ERA

Fast forward to the contemporary period, the recent mosques designed since the 2000s have all recognized that the British mosque is no longer a mosque influenced by Pakistani origin, or Gujrati, Indian culture, but rather it is a collective of the British Muslim identity in a cohesive and diverse nation.

It is also important to understand that the term ‘Islamic architecture’ does not refer to Islam as a religious connotation, but rather represents the architectural styles, features, and archetypes of the Islamic World. Therefore, domes, minarets, calligraphic art, and curved windows and doors are not an Islamically religious necessity within mosques but rather an architectural language that has long been affiliated with Islamic sacral architecture and thus migrated all over the world within mosques and Islamic places of worship. Each Muslim dominant geographical region has its adaptations to these features, so it is only appropriate to understand the evolution of sacral architectural needs and features of the rapidly growing British Muslim population.

CAMBRIDGE CENTRAL MOSQUE (2019)

One recent notable project which stands out and has addressed the change in establishing the ‘Contemporary British Mosque typology’ is the Cambridge Mosque by Marks Barfield Architects. Arguably, the mosques around the world have engaged the culture and vernacular of the location they are in, the Cambridge mosque, however, bridges two cultures, British and Muslim while taking into consideration the neighbours around the building.

The mosque design carefully integrated common features from the mosque archetypes from around the globe through the sahn, with flowing water at the heart of it (fig 30). The design also takes into consideration the modernday environmental and sustainability factors with the inclusion of rainwater harvesting, photovoltaics, natural ventilation, passive cooling, and naturally lit spaces, all of which are unheard of for a sacral archetype, especially within an Islamic place of worship.

In a recent television series, the Imam of the Mosque made mention of an important belief in Islam regarding light. He quoted the Holy Book of God, “Allahu noorus samawati wal ard” (Quran, 24:35), which translates to “God is the Light of the heavens and the Earth”. He went on further to explain “God is the source of light... Guidance is spoken as light and misguidance as darkness. Light comes from above and into the space and into our heart” (Art of Architecture S2, E2, Cambridge Central Mosque, 2021). One of the emphasis within the of the Cambridge mosque was the utilisation of natural light flooding the prayer hall to increase the level of spirituality (fig 32).

The Cambridge mosque is certainly the beginning of the Contemporary British Mosque archetype. It is a wholesome

project which takes into account, not just a clean space to pray in, but also it’s surrounding, the environment, the use of natural light, water and most importantly the future of the British Muslim generation by combining migrant Islamic, cultural and sustainable styles to create a new language of Mosque design under the homogenous umbrella of Islam.

Figure 31: Qiblah Wall, Cambridge (Albakar Mukadam, 2020)