_Mosque: Building Crosses Cultures

The title of this conference raises many questions about what we mean by claiming that mosques are transcultural. Clearly, mosques throughout the world have left a rich architectural legacy linked to their local settings and the diverse cultures they have interacted with. We see that on the personal level, this supremely influential building is characterized by a cultural identity that is rarely found in other places of worship; seamlessly incorporating local components yet strictly maintaining a defining constancy. This characteristic has resulted in a cumulative development of mosque architecture and spatial form over the many centuries of its continuation.

It is natural for any building to express a relationship with the local natural and cultural environment, but in the case of the mosque, its form is free from restrictions of design and components except for the orientation of the prayer hall to the qiblah. And since this orientation changes from one place to another, it has inspired builders and architects with a high degree of flexibility with regard to the fundamental shape of the mosque and its relation to the surrounding urban fabric.