Church to mosque : a short account of the recycling of the Pretoria West Dutch Reformed Church

Abstract

In 1941, a new Dutch Reformed church was built in Pretoria West to the design of Gerard Moerdijk. The "Neo-Byzantine" design, developed and defined by Moerdijk homself, was not regarded by everybody as suitable for a Reformed church, but the form was nevertheless found wide spread in South Africa - until it was replaced by a more rectangular shape in the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1990s, the demography of Pretoria West changed. Many of the original residents left the area and new inhabitants, among whom were many Muslims, settled there. A space for prayer became necessary. The church was bought for this purpose. A brief look is taken at the history of the building and its conversion.The ideal spaces for the expression of faith are highlighted and the meaning of the change is considered.ARABIC: Refer to article for the Arabic abstract.