New Coburg Islamic Centre (CIC) (Fatih Mosque)

known as CIC (Fātih Mosque, Coburg Mosque)

the original mosque plans in 1970s used to have a fountain within a covered courtyard ,while in the new plans they were removed because of expanding the mosque with the additional land acquisition to accommodate a larger congregation.

External design and layout of the Coburg mosque:

The only stark features that distinguish the building from its neighbors as a religious or Islamic facility are the existence of a minaret and a small dome that adorns the building, making the building insignificant and unparalleled to its supposedly symbolic presence.

Facilities:

The Coburg Mosque is not specifically a place of worship but also serves as an educational hub and provides a space for other Islamic activities needed by the Muslim community.

When the first few Muslim settlers came to Australia, It doesn’t appear to have been much thought put into the design of the first houses of worship. Muslims, being a minority religion, perhaps built mosques back then to purely meet the needs of the Muslim community, removing all forms of aesthetics that psychologically linked the building with the essence of the religion.

Over time, culture and socio-economic factors took over and greatly manipulated how some mosques were constructed. While the large population of Arab and Turkish Muslims in Coburg could have had an influential factor, it was disappointing to note the Coburg mosque is merely serving its function.

Coburg Mosque constructed in the 1970s with some modifications done in the later years could have taken into account differentiating the building from any other religious facility and could have intrigued non-Muslims to find out more about the religion as well as culture for better multi-cultural understanding.

The downplay of the architecture of the mosque could be due to a need to pacify any objections which arose around the building of a mosque in a non-Muslim country.