Park51: Just Another Community Center, or Sly Theocratic Implement 'Victory Mosque'—You Decide!

The whole "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy has been sensationalized. I've thought to cover it here, but why stoke the fire. Plus, if I allowed every public interest story with a religious motif to obligate me, I'd be committing myself to a life of solitude and digital abandon.

That said, the recently released artist's renderings for the proposed Park51 community center (formerly, Cordoba House) have spurred my interest. What they depict is a strikingly contemporary design, featuring an irregularly-patterned, honeycomb-like facade (reportedly based on abstractions from traditional arabesque patterns), and a crystalline interior that, as the above linked AP article put it, "could be an annex to Superman's Fortress of Solitude."



But aside from the somewhat adventurous look of the proposed community center/prayer facility, I'm interested mostly by what the look has to say about the mood of the building's proprietors. Clearly its meant to signal a break from the past. But in what direction does it point? And to what extent is its modernized aesthetic merely an appeal to secular society? Essentially, how much can the immutable doctrine of Islam really be expected to change?

Here's the best of three articles I read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/03/park51-building-ground-zero-mosque