Symbols matter- so here's how you screw one up

[Tubby Isaacs]

The current Brick Lane Mosque is one of my favourite buildings. It's Grade 2*, a dignified late C18 brick building. And most importantly, it was built as a Huguenot Chapel, and converted to a synagogue before becoming a a mosque as now. Who couldn't love the symbolism of that?

Well, Tower Hamlets council and Ken Livingstone for starters. They've rallied together a bunch of rich Muslim philistines (the local community had been happy enough worshipping there and would have settled for internal improvements, I expect) and built a sodding minaret outside.

I'm speechless. Well, apart from silly community politics, over assertive religion, crass insensitivity to history, and childish attempt to "orientalise", I'm speechless. There's a fine oriental mosque about half a mile away anyway.

This is the worst bit of planning of any sort I've seen for years, let alone one attaching to a listed building- and Grade 2* is the next level down from Grade 1. Oh yeah, it looks crap too.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Symbols matter- so here's how you screw one up

This is a call for Mr. Rhino. Mr S. Rhino. Please report to this thread immediately.

[San Bernardhinault]

Symbols matter- so here's how you screw one up

I like the minarets at Hagia Sofia. Why is this different?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Symbols matter- so here's how you screw one up

The glorious symbolism of Christianity, Judaism and Islam using the same building happily. I've done a few tours of the area and people really liked that.

edit- I see what you mean but three major faiths in one building is reckoned to be unique.

I like minarets too. I like the one at the East London Mosque, a new build on a decent scale to work. This, paradoxically, is too low to be a landmark (which I think was the intention of the council) and too high to fit into such a narrow street.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Symbols matter- so here's how you screw one up

Here's the thing. If you think I'm choosing a deliberately bad picture, this is a projection apparently by its proponents:



If it isn't a minaret, it clearly has a fair bit to do with minarets. Otherwise it's a particularly bad bit of abstract art that just so happens to be outside a mosque.

To allow this, a planner had to be completely unmoved by the building's history, and ignore the fact the building is Grade 2* and, I now find, in a conservation area. And money had to be found to realign pavements, and it had to be considered worthwhile blocking off a very busy street indeed for construction.

Who said philistinism was lazy?

[Anton Gramscescu]

Symbols matter- so here's how you screw one up

I'm clearly not up on my minaret-ology. I thought the purpose of the tower was to allow the muezzin to go up and sing the call to prayer. A muezzin would need a harness, a winch and a lot of rope to do the call to prayer from that thing.