The Islamic Cultural Center was the first mosque and religious center built specifically for New York’s growing Muslim community. Its design represents the rich and varied Muslim traditions in a contemporary context, relying on the use of geometric principles that formulate the basis of both Islamic and Modern architectural vocabularies.
The center comprises a mosque, assembly space, and minaret. Following religious law, the prayer hall is oriented toward Mecca, a rotation of 29 degrees from Manhattan’s orthogonal street grid. A structural system of four intersecting steel trusses supports the mosque’s dome and allows for a column-free interior hall.
A play between solid granite and diaphanous glass elements characterizes the building’s exterior and interior. Light enters the building at various points — through glass inset strips in the facade, through a glass reveal beneath the dome and through clerestory windows with fritted ceramic patterns — to emphasize a progression through the space
Islamic Cultural Center of New York
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Project Facts
Location: New York, New York
Project Completion: 1991
Site Area: 48,200 ft2
Project Area: 21,176 ft2
Market: Cultural
Service: Architecture, Interior Design
Awards
1993
Award of ExcellenceInternational Association of Lighting Designers1992
Interiors AwardInteriors1992
Art and Architecture AwardInterfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture1992
Downstate Building AwardGeneral Building Contractors of New York StateSee Also...

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