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Shortlisted for the 2021 Stirling Prize, Cambridge Central Mosque is a truly innovative building, and one that is sustainable and socially and architecturally integrated into - and respectful of - its neighbourhood. As well as discussing its design and construction, this book focuses on the creation of a unique place of worship for a community. Setting out historic precedents and influences, it highlights how the mosque breaks new ground in terms of Islamic and English religious architectural traditions and how it reflects the ongoing debates on Islam and Britishness, as well as Islam and tradition.
The book first sets out how the site and the architects, Marks Barfield Architects, were selected, then goes on to discuss the development of the mosque's concept, structure and key design aspects, including the significance of geometry to Islam and the defining feature of the building: its timber structure evoking the English fan vaulting used nearby at King's College. There is also a useful technical section on the many sustainable features of the building and its low carbon design and the book concludes with a discussion of the day-to-day life of the mosque, including interviews with the imam and members of the local community who come from all over the world, highlighting the impact the mosque has had for the wider Cambridge community and beyond.
About the author
Michael Glover is a poet and the visual arts critic and senior feature writer for the
Independent. He is also the poetry editor of the
Tablet. As an arts journalist, he has been a regular contributor to
The Times, the
Financial Times, the
New Statesman and
The Economist and a London correspondent for
ArtNews, New York. Recent publications include
John Ruskin: An Idiosyncratic Dictionary (Lund Humphries 2019) and a monograph on contemporary painter Neo Rauch (Lund Humphries 2019), both published by Lund Humphries.
Summary
Shortlisted for the 2021 Stirling Prize, this mosque is a truly innovative building, which is sustainable and socially and architecturally integrated into and respectful of its neighbourhood. As well as discussing its design and construction, this book focuses on the creation of a unique place of worship for a community. Setting out historic precedents and influences, it highlights how this mosque breaks new ground in terms of Islamic and English religious architectural traditions and how it reflects the ongoing debates on Islam and Britishness, as well as Islam and Tradition.
The book sets out how the site and then the architects, Marks Barfield Architects, were selected, by winning a limited competition in 2009. The book then discusses the development of the mosque’s concept, structure and key design aspects, including the significance of geometry to Islam and the defining feature of Cambridge Mosque - its timber structure. The timber columns, or ‘trees’, reach up to support the roof using an interlaced octagonal lattice vault structure evocative of English Gothic fan vaulting, famously used at the nearby Kings College Chapel, Cambridge.
The book also includes a useful technical section on the many sustainable features of the building and its carbon neutrality. It explores and thoroughly describes the mosque, inside and out, from its ornamental garden to its prayer hall, screen (movable), minbar, and mihrab. The book concludes with a section which provides a sense of the day-to-day life of the mosque, including interviews with the imam, members of the local community who come from all over the world, and highlights what impact the mosque has had for the wider Cambridge community and beyond, as well as the lessons which can be learnt from it.
