Home / News / Multi Faith Spaces Project Calls For Input
News
‘Multi-Faith Spaces: Symptoms and Agents of Social and Political Change’ – an assessment of the design, maintenance, perception and effects of Multi-Faith Spaces (henceforth, MFS)
![[Image]](/uploads/images/2010_05/1274781431_DerbyMultifaithCentre0.jpg)
The Multifaith Centre at the University of Derby
Multi-faith spaces project calls for input
25 May 10
We are in the early stages of our investigation and are currently seeking to:
(1) Locate a wide range of MFS to visit and survey.
(2) Speak with individuals who are (or have been) involved in their design and management.
(3) Locate and evaluate key documents and materials.
Please email us if you are interested in taking part in this research or require any further information. We will then contact you to arrange a conversation, interview or visit (as appropriate).
Additionally, if you could send us any the following it would be greatly
appreciated:
(1) Nominations for MFS that could be included in this research (including your own)
(2) An indication of whether you wish to receive further updates about this project (or if you wish to be removed from our database).
(3) Any documents or photographs you think may be of interest to our research team.
Further information is available below, and on our website at www.manchester.ac.uk/mfs where we outline the project and our dissemination strategy in more detail. Full contact details (alongside Twitter and Blog Feeds) can also be found on the site.
FURTHER DETAILS
DEFINITIONS: Our aim at this early stage is to keep the term ‘multi-faith space’ as open as possible, in order to consider and assess as many examples as we can. Examples of MFS include – but are certainly not limited to – rooms within: airports, hospitals, prisons, schools, universities, crematoria, shopping centres, public buildings, etc. These might be designated ‘prayer’ rooms, or might exist to facilitate a more varied array of functions. At this latter end of the spectrum exist a number of specialised examples, including multi-faith centres where different religions have their own sacred space(s), alongside collective facilities for secular purposes.
FUNDING: The project is being undertaken by the Manchester Architecture Research Centre (MARC) at the University of Manchester (UK). It runs from 2010-2012, and is funded through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) ‘Religion and Society’ research programme. The project has received ethical clearance from the University of Manchester (specifics available on request). The principle investigators are Dr Ralf Brand and Dr Andrew Crompton, the theological associate is Revd. Dr. Terry Biddington, and the researcher is Dr Chris Hewson.
LOGISTICS: The first phase of the project will examine at least 48 separate MFS (including 12 from outside the UK). We aim to document these spaces through measured drawings, wide-angled photography, and detailed research into the history of their formation. During this process our intention is to interview as wide a range of individuals as possible, particularly those involved in the design, formation and management of MFS. Subsequently, we will select a number of these spaces for more in-depth research, looking at both ongoing development(s) and day-to-day usage. Within this stage we will also seek to interview MFS users.