Accommodating Spaces: Adoptive Architecture of 40 Mosques in Berlin

NOTE:
Available May 2026!!!
if you pre-order, the full order will be posted once all titles are ready to post! 

Many located in former shops, garages, apartments and factories, this book recognizes the unique qualities of the largely overlooked, community-driven architectural culture of forty mosques in Berlin.

Not planned by policy, and at friction with traditions of various religious origins, the practice of architectural re-use reveals people’s needs, resilience and commitment to creating new spatial possibilities. Due to the initiatives of people, this culture came to be part of Berlin’s urban landscape, as it has for many cities shaped by diverse migrant communities.

Through site visits, observation, interviews with the members from mosque communities and remote research, architect Gizem Asici Thiele identified the spatial characteristics of these forty mosques—representing 50% of all mosques in Berlin—and placed them in context  to wider traditions of mosque architecture and urban development.

This overview  illustrates how various diasporic communities build communal, religious grounds as they are creatively challenged to navigate regulations, while honoring diverse cultural and religious expectations. The result is amazing: they co-produced an urban environment that reflects the mixed culture of the city.