The dominant theme is that of the expression of identity, the overwhelming preference in British mosque design being for traditional elements and decoration – especially dome, minaret and arches – applied to sometimes basic box-like structures. From time to time the cry goes up, including in Jonathan Glancey’s introduction to this book, that a “contemporary” Islamic British style should be developed. — The Guardian

Times are tough for India’s monument to love. Air pollution is turning its marble surface yellow. Restoration work is obscuring its famous minarets. Tens of millions of tourists still flock to Agra each year, but numbers are reportedly waning.

Critics of the Taj Mahal are also growing increasingly bold. In past months, religious nationalists in the Hindu-majority country have stepped up a campaign to push the four-century-old Mughal monument to the margins of Indian history. — The Guardian

But the Vali-e-Asr mosque, designed by the Iranian architects Reza Daneshmir and Catherine Spiridonoff, is stirring controversy in a country that hosts some of the world’s most glittering places of worship. Iranian hardliners are refusing to recognise it as a mosque, complaining that it does not have a minaret or proper dome, and that it is dwarfed by the theatre. [...]

The conservative Mashregh News said: [...] It was “an insulting, postmodern design” that is “empty of any meaning”, it said. — The Guardian

Who would have thought cathedral accounts on social media would be so entertaining? Some social media users were certainly amused earlier this week when St Paul's Cathedral in London, boasted about how, on World Architecture Day, England's cathedrals "have got this well covered". — BBC

Whether you frequently visit a religious space or not, there are plenty of projects out there that are worthy of praise in their own right, as seen in the 2016 Faith & Form/IFRAA Awards Program. Founded in 1978 and co-sponsored by Faith & Form Magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA), the annual competition scopes out the best in religious architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces. — Bustler

The park’s centerpiece features three decks of exhibits explaining Answers in Genesis’ views of the biblical flood account..[It] also features a two-story restaurant, aerial zipline cables and the Ararat Ridge Zoo...

“...in a world that we see becoming very secularized before our eyes, it’s really time for Christians to do something of this size, of this quality, that competes with the Disneys and the Universals to get a message to the world.” — The Charlotte Observer

A mosque, a church and a synagogue go up on the site of an old Jewish country club ...

It sounds like the setup to a joke — but it's not. It's actually happening in Omaha, Neb. The Tri-Faith Initiative may be the first place in history where these three monotheistic faiths have built together, on purpose, with the intention of working together. [...]

Similar initiatives are underway elsewhere. One in Berlin would house all three religions in a single building. — npr.org

Muslims in Copenhagen can look forward to getting a new place of worship as Copenhagen Municipality has approved a planning application for a new, modern-looking mosque this week by the Muslim faith group Islamisk Trossamfund.

The new mosque, which will be designed by the renowned architect firm Henning Larsen Architects, will replace a current mosque located on the corner of Dortheavej and Tomsgårdsvej in the Nordvest district of the city. — The Copenhagen Post

Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji [...] is capturing truly stunning photographs of the colorful, architecturally gorgeous interiors of historical Mosques throughout the Middle East. [...]

Using wide angle lenses, fisheye lenses and panoramic photography techniques he has traveled to some of the most historically significant mosques in and around his home country of Iran to capture the kaleidoscope-like architecture inside. — petapixel.com