Designing a New Brand of Islamic Places in the United States: The Hidden Program of Third Spaces

Abstract

The article critically examines how design is used as a tool to establish a new brand of American Islamic spaces in situated contexts using four strategic mechanisms: (1) Using place as a means of institutionalizing the inclusive vision of the community; (2) Urbanizing the location by moving away from the suburbs, making it accessible to all; (3) Co-designing the space to foster ownership; (4) reflecting a new brand of space through contextually sensitive interiors. Findings suggest that these four community-based mechanisms were used to enact a vernacular brand of Islamic spaces in the US through communicating an inclusive hidden program of space.