SOCIO – CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE MOSQUE DESIGN – HALLE

The mosque design is an interesting and challenging task to work on in a rising right-wing political environment in Europe. This provides an opportunity for the application of concepts like; accepting diversity, right of all groups towards city development, social sustainability and respecting multi-culturalism reflected in the making of contemporary Muslim architecture in Europe.

On the other hand, it is also is an opportunity to work with the local community of mostly Moroccan origin to develop a concept for a contemporary mosque where praying and social activities of both men and women merge.

Originally a warehouse, the space has been used for a variety of land uses such as a gym, a ballet school, storage for secondhand clothes and cars. The same structure is being retrofitted with state-of-the-art infrastructure services for serving the needs of the current and future generations of the Muslim community of Halle. The objective is for this project to result in a socially interactive architectural design that the whole community is proud of regardless of religion. It introduces more pleasant and communicative spaces especially encouraging youth and women’s participation.