L’architettura della moschea. Un’intervista con Salma Samar Damluji

The subject of mosque architecture is treated in this article through an interview held by Viola Bertini with Salma Samar Damluji. The article investigates the relationship of Damluji to mosque architecture from a personal perspective, as a landmark within the town and cityscape. The relationship of contemporary mosques and the movement of modern architecture in Baghdad, the city where the interviewee lived is associate with the historic influences, architecture, and crafts of original distinguished mosques like Samarra in Iraq. Bertini further probes into Damluji’s spectrum and development during her studies at the AA in London, with research delving into Islamic art, geometry, and calligraphy, through associations and junctures that consolidated her line of inquiry and inspiration towards "another" architecture. The specificity of the design is then analysed through Hassan Fathy’s Mosque Architecture Manual, which they jointly worked on in 1975–76. Throughout the discussion, the meaning and synchroneity of the mosque structure, physicality, and aesthetics in the Arab city, as well as Islamic discipline and knowledge, are revealed and enforced. Modern projects in the Islamic world are discussed, and examples are cited. This paper elaborates on the Shaykh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which Damluji was responsible for, with the participation of a wide range of renowned artists, architects, craftsmen, and designers. In the related stories, the language and essence of creative design qualities are validated. An approach to understanding mosque architecture through a much-needed critical analysis that reads into the historic past and contemporary present.