facility in the
University of Toronto's multifaith building MFSs are designated for various spiritual activities and should address both religious and non-religious needs without a bias towards any worldviews. While their emergence resulted from both grassroots initiatives and voluntary decisions of facilities’ management, MFSs began to be promoted and recommended, among others, by European government agencies. MFSs are still not well-defined because of their novelty, and there are no architectural guidelines for the construction and design of MFSs. Nonetheless, most of the existing spaces follow similar style patterns. An architect and lecturer, Andrew Crompton, noted two basic types of MFSs: a negative style, shared by a majority of such places in Europe and the USA, and a positive one. • The negative style is characterized by a neutral design and the absence of religion-specific items or symbols on permanent display. In Crompton’s original words, "A windowless white room with a few religious texts on a shelf and the paraphernalia of religion, when not actually in use, kept out of sight in boxes" made from unobtrusive materials is the most common type of negative design. • The positive style shows symbols and items about multiple religious denominations. It is often described as ‘unity by inclusion,’ where artifacts of different faiths are displayed, and different groups visibly occupy the spaces. Positive designs emphasize individualized belief or faith and strengthen the cohesion among already distinct religious traditions. According to the Economist (2013), regardless of their style, some MFSs are set up in repurposed Christian chapels, but most are constructed from scratch. Religious scholar Francisco Díez de Velasco, arguing in favor of neutral/negative designs, points out that these tend to prevail as they respond to a need for practicality, as well as being materially convenient on the economic side, given the increase of religious and cultural diversity in present society. Díez de Velasco also argues that neutral designs would also be suitable for non-religiously affiliated people and groups, in force of "the rising abandonment of standard religious practice and the diverse phenomena involved in redefining religious identities on an individual and collective scale that some have attempted to group beneath the umbrella term of secularization(s)." The Manchester University research highlighted two key factors for a multifaith space to work: • There needs to be a balance achieved for the range of different users most likely to make regular use of the space, thus preventing conflict. All norms and values need to be considered and respected, which often leads to an "unstable equilibrium where divergent worldviews can be brought together." Social cooperation and openness must be possible within the space. • Most multifaith spaces maintain a very basic design, in order to minimize the visibility of a single faith group, whilst remaining easily adaptable to the many different practices for which the space may be utilized. Each space raises question of ethics and "national style", in which different faith members are able to participate in a mutually respectful, yet cooperative, manner. == Social impact and challenges ==