Cambridge Central Mosque The Sacred Re-Imagined

Designed by Marks Barfield Architects, Cambridge Central Mosque is an innovative building, which is both sustainable and socially and architecturally integrated into its neighbourhood. Illustrated with architectural drawings and photography by Sir Cam, Morley von Sternberg and others, this book details its evolution and realisation, highlighting how the mosque breaks new ground, and reflects ongoing debates about Islam and Britishness. It discusses how geometry is a central feature, and focuses on its timber structure or ‘ trees’ , as well as on the many sustainable features of the building and its carbon neutrality. The mosque has become a unique place of community worship, and the book concludes by providing a sense of the day-to-day life of the mosque, as well as the lessons which can be learnt from it.

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 and a monograph on contemporary painter Neo Rauch, both published by Lund Humphries.

Dedication. Acknowledgements. Introduction. What is a Mosque? Julia Barfield and David Marks: Practising the Art of Idealism. Keith Critchlow and the Sacred Art of Geometry. The Trees! The Trees! Sustainability. Welcome to the Mosque: a Tour into the Heart of the Sacred. Bibliography. Glossary of some key Islamic Terms