The Cultural Collection · New York, NY · 2025–2026

Islamic Center of New York City

A renovation shown floor by floor to the community funding it. The campaign's future lives in the images.

01 · Arrival, the prayer hall, the frame the campaign leads with

Setup

The Islamic Center of New York City is renovating its Manhattan building: a prayer hall, a co-working area with a cafe, a wellness center, and a new facade, designed by Tirmizi Studio. The center is raising $5 million to build it, and the campaign shows the future floor by floor, from the dome to the minbar to the street.

oaki has produced the project's renderings since 2025.

02 · Arrival, the hall from the entry

Tension

A capital campaign asks people to give money to a building that does not exist. The images are not marketing on top of the project; they are the thing donors are shown when they decide. Every room the campaign promises had to be seen, in a light that feels like the place the community is trying to build, not like a developer's brochure.

03 · Moving through, the prayer hall toward the minbar

04 · Moving through, the co-working floor

05 · Moving through, the wellness center

Approach

The prayer hall leads, because it is what the community is building first and giving for. The sequence then walks the promise: the working floor, the wellness center, the cafe, the stair, and finally the facade studies that give the campaign a public face on the street. Warm, low light throughout; atmosphere over spectacle.