English information on the Altach Islamic Cemetery

The Cemetery

 

The Islamic Cemetery Altach is open to members of all Islamic communities living in any of Vorarlberg’s rural and urban districts who wish to be buried according to Islamic rites. The cemetery comprises burial areas for approximately 700 graves, a facility for ritual washing, a covered area for taking leave of the deceased and a small prayer room. The burial areashave been laid out so that the deceased can be buried according to the ritually correct alignment of theirbodies with Mecca. In the prayer room the art installation “Schindel-Mihrab” (“Shingle Mihrab”) shows the direction of prayer towards Mecca. The carpet was hand-woven by women in Sarajevo.

 

The cemetery is operated and maintained by: the municipality of Altach

https://altach.at/leben-in-altach/soziales-gesundheit/todesfall-was-ist-zu-tun/islamischer-friedhof-altach/

 

Funding:

Vorarlberg municipalities, State of Vorarlberg, donations from the Islamic Communities of Vorarlberg, burial and grave fees and charges

 

Architect:

DI Bernardo Bader, Dornbirn

www.bernardobader.com

 

“Kunst am Bau” (“Art within architecture”) / installation Prayer room:

Azra Akšamija, www.mit.edu/~azra/

 

The brochure for download (right) informs on the procecc behind the project and the architecture ►

 

 

 

Literature:

 

Azra Aksamija: Cultivating Convergence: The First Islamic Cemetery in Vorarlberg, Austria,

in: International Journal for Islamic Architecture, Vol. 3 Issue 1 (March 2014), p. 131-146.

 

In her Essay Azra Aksamija  pays special attention to the process of formation and the architectural design of the Islamic cemetery Altach.

She makes clear, that the special architecture of the Islamic cemetery Altach addresses the functional and representational needs of the Muslim population and also promotes cultural convergence and mutual understanding.

 

Download: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=2618/ (fee required)

 

Azra Aksamija: Architecture of Coexistence: Building Pluralism, 2020.

This book investigates how architecture can shape an open-minded and inclusive society, highlighting three internationally renowned projects: the White Mosque in Visoko, Bosnia-Herzegovina (1980); the Islamic Cemetery Altach in Altach, Austria (2012); and the Superkilen public park in Copenhagen, Denmark (2012).

Scholarly essays across various disciplines, along with interviews with the architects and users of these projects, provide intriguing insights into architecture’s ability to bridge cultural differences. Soliciting a wide array of questions about migration, transculturalism, visibility, inclusion, and exclusion, the book sheds light on the long-term social processes generated between architectural form and its users.

Architecture of Coexistence offers a truly interdisciplinary perspective on a very timely subject: “Building pluralism” means designing for a respectful inclusion of different cultural needs, practices, and traditions.

With contributions by Azra Akšamija, Mohammad al-Asad, Ali S. Asani, Simon Burtscher-Matis, Amila Buturović, Farrokh Derakhshani, Robert Fabach, Eva Grabherr, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Tina Gudrun Jensen, Jennifer Mack, Nasser Rabbat, Barbara Steiner, Helen Walasek and Wolfgang Welsch.

https://architangle.com/book/architecture-of-coexistence (fee required)