27/07/2026
Mosque of Rome (1974–1995) by Paolo Portoghesi, Vittorio Gigliotti and Sami Mousawi.
At first glance, the building seems to belong to a long Islamic tradition. Yet almost none of its forms is copied directly from a historic mosque.
The design begins with a more complex idea: how to create an Islamic religious building that also belongs unmistakably to Rome.
Its clearest answer is the system of branching columns. They rise like trunks and divide into curved concrete ribs, supporting the ceilings and domes. The forms recall palms and the dense columned halls of Islamic architecture, but they also echo the trees surrounding the site.
These columns are not decoration applied to a structure. They are the structure. As they divide into arches, ribs and domes, construction and ornament become one continuous system.
The mosque also refers to Rome’s own architectural history. Portoghesi drew on the layered geometry of Borromini and Guarino Guarini, whose buildings transform heavy masonry into flowing surfaces, curved spaces and carefully directed light.
Familiar elements remain: the prayer hall, porticoes, courtyards, domes and minaret. But each is reinterpreted rather than reproduced. Travertine, peperino, brick and marble connect the building to Roman construction, while the pale concrete framework introduces a more modern language.
This is why the mosque looks both familiar and difficult to place. Islamic spatial traditions, Roman materials, Baroque geometry and landscape are not presented as separate references. They are combined into a single architectural system.
