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Existing studies have shown that a significant portion of women in mosques of the United States are dissatisfied with the way mosques are run. However, despite the rapidly growing number of purpose-built mosques in the US, little empirical research has investigated the impact of current spatial and physical features of these buildings on women. Using data from 422 blogposts and 13 semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of Muslim women, this study examines the psychological impact of common architectural characteristics of contemporary American mosques on women's sense of place. The study reveals that building affordances of accessibility, functional fit, and aesthetics in mosques enable a breadth of emotions and cognitive meanings that form women's sense of place. Findings suggest that care must be taken when designing new mosques to promote women's positive place experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article critically examines how design is used as a tool to establish a new brand of American Islamic spaces in situated contexts using four strategic mechanisms: (1) Using place as a means of institutionalizing the inclusive vision of the community; (2) Urbanizing the location by moving away from the suburbs, making it accessible to all; (3) Co-designing the space to foster ownership; (4) reflecting a new brand of space through contextually sensitive interiors. Findings suggest that these four community-based mechanisms were used to enact a vernacular brand of Islamic spaces in the US through communicating an inclusive hidden program of space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our global community necessitates the understanding of emergent hybrid typologies of religious spaces and their role in community development. Islamic third spaces are informal socio-religious environments that serve the unmet needs of acculturated generations of US Muslims. Using a place attachment framework, the study illustrates how the social and physical designs of two third spaces curate inclusive and contextually driven experiences for their members. This is done through an exploration of data from twenty-four in-depth semi-structured interviews with attendees of two Islamic third spaces. Findings indicated that, in addition to social and physical features of third spaces, contextual influences affecting US Muslims served a crucial role in participants place attachment. We conclude that attachment to third spaces provides a basis for community development processes, such as social cohesion and integration within the US populous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]