While smaller sites exist in several cities, the new Jamatkhana in Plano, Tx is one of four major facilities in the United States. The design program called for a center that would establish permanence in a setting that was contemporary, yet redolent of an historical past that is itself an interweave of encounters across civilizations.
From geometry of form that has defined architecture in Islamic contexts to the signs of Nature in water, gardens and light that have characterized its expression over the ages the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center's design works with a fusion between history and contemporarily.
The geometry, series of interlocking octagons is interweaved throughout the facility thru a grandiose of floor patterns, ceiling designs and metallic lattice pieces that embellish the exterior and interior walls, the entrance, Social Lobby and Prayer Hall. With brick, concrete and colors that recall the ochre tones of Fatimid lustreware, and glass surfaces (stained glass) that transmit and project light and visions of nature, the Center enables a convergence of thematic diversity for the multiple purposes of the facility (education, prayer and meditation) of improving and promoting a wider understanding of peoples and traditions from near and afar.
The facility is a place of congregation, of order, of peace, and of prayer. It is a facility that facilitates social and cultural interaction and wishes to become a symbol of a growing understanding in the West of a very deep and real meaning of Islam.