Five-Minute Mosque is a neighborhood-scale mosque concept that redefines sacred space as a walkable community hub.
Developed as part of the Arbëria project, the concept reinterprets the traditional role of mosques as social, cultural, and educational centers; not only as places of worship. Designed to be reached within a five-minute walk, these small, distributed mosques reduce car dependency and strengthen everyday community life.
Beyond the prayer hall, the mosque integrates libraries for children, classrooms, start-up spaces, community rooms, cafés, and shared social areas; transforming the mosque into an active neighborhood nucleus.
In parallel, the project introduces a reinterpretation of architectural language and materiality. Decorative window motifs found in local houses and peripheral mosques are abstracted into contemporary openings and screens. The building is composed as two interconnected volumes: one dedicated to worship, the other to community functions. Between them, a shared open courtyard acts as a public square; a flexible space for gatherings, events, and daily neighborhood life.
Five-Minute Mosque proposes a sustainable urban model that merges spirituality, social life, and architecture; creating accessible, resilient, and culturally rooted community spaces for contemporary cities.
