L’Oriente ad Arezzo. Progetto di un centro islamico lungo le mura

In 2018, Nayem Mohammed discussed his graduation thesis concerning the project of an Islamic centre in Arezzo intended mainly for the large Bengali community of the Tuscan city. The thesis is a proposal for the recovery and enhancement of an urban area of great historical and architectural value. In rethinking the role of this significant piece of the city beside the medieval walls, the project tries to break up a disruptive scenario in which a foreign community is officially and symbolically welcomed within the oldest part of the city. Therefore, the entire project is conceived in the name of cultural exchange between the West and the East. The theme of cultural contamination that inevitably arises when dealing with the design of a mosque in the Italian landscape implies a reflection on specific design issues that must be addressed from a “philological” point of view – that implies research, interpretation, and understanding of the architectural context – but also with a flexible approach to rereading the past. These issues essentially concern sacred space as the origin of architecture, typology, and the evocative power of architectural language – themes connected to each other.