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MEVLANA MOSQUE

H.W.D. TOORMAN (HEUVELHORST ARCHITECTEN), 1995-2001, Mevlanaplein 1, Rotterdam

PROJECT ARCHITECT:
Bert Toorman

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Heuvelhorst architecten

BUILDING TYPE:
Religious buildings

With its 42 metre tall minarets and dome roof the Mevlana Moskee seems to have been flown in directly from Turkey, yet it is by no means a gratuitous imitation of a Turkish example. Here traditional forms and constructional techniques have been adapted to Dutch building practice, a compromise between Western legislation and Eastern tradition. The building emphatically belongs to the present in its modern detailing and precast concrete elements painted in pastel tints. Its clients by contrast were more interested in the familiar image of the mosque, not just in the interior decorated by Turkish painters but outside too. Inside, the large prayer space is supplemented by all kinds of amenities serving sociocultural ends.