The 'mega-mosque' and the 'mega-church': the battle over London's sacred sites

THE GUARDIAN
ByOliver Wainwright
A giant walnut whip … the 2005 proposal for a 70,000-capacity mosque by Mangera Yvars architects. Image: MYAA
UNITED KINGDOM---It was meant to be a “potent symbol of our tolerant and welcoming society”, a sanctuary for spiritual contemplation that drew inspiration from the great mosques of Cordoba and Kairouan, in an architectural complex that would have “ranked itself with the major religious buildings of Europe”. By 2007, more than a quarter of a million people had signed an online petition opposing plans for the mosque, claiming to represent “the Christian population of this great country England” and saying the mosque would “cause terrible violence and suffering”. [link]