Expressions of Muslim identity in architecture and urbanism in Birmingham, UK

Abstract

Muslims in the West, and in Britain in particular, have typically experienced cultural displacement, and thus seek creative cultural expressions and explicit practices as a form of self-identity. This paper explores the meaningful expressions of this identity from the perspective of architecture and urbanism. It discusses the development of culturally distinct neighbourhood landscapes in Birmingham, their morphological and architectural differentiation and the adaptations and transformations of space as a result of the interaction between the Muslim South Asian community and British built form.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Local Studies and History Service at Birmingham Central Library for their permission to reproduce the archival photographs presented in this paper.