The exhibition From Bauhaus to Mecca introduces you to the fascinating architect Dr Mahmoud Bodo Rasch. Born into a German artistic family and having studied architecture, he seemed destined to follow the modernist ideas of post-war Europe. But he made a different choice: he converted to Islam and became one of the most important architects of the Islamic religious world.
The exhibition From Bauhaus to Mecca will be on display from 8 November 2025 to 5 April 2026.
(Re)watch the documentaries and videos from the exhibition From Bauhaus to Mecca here.
Although some traditions are recent inventions, many are so deeply ingrained that they form the backbone of entire societies.
How do you modernise a religious tradition that is more than 1,400 years old? This was the question Dr Mahamoud Bodo Rasch faced in 1974.
Tradition is a way of establishing a set of supposedly authentic customs, literally preserving them. Traditions have also emerged in architecture and design, ideas about the correct way to practise these applied arts. However, these traditions are also regularly broken.