Berlin's House of One: a church, a mosque and a synagogue under one roof

http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/jun/25/berlin-house-of-one-unity-christian-muslim-jew

A group of Christians, Muslims and Jews in Berlin is trying to crowdsource funds to build a place where they can all worship together. But are all religious communites backing the ambitious project?


A model of the House of One in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Carsten Koall/Getty Images

With a widely loathed palace being rebuilt in the city centre and a new airport whose completion is perpetually delayed, Berliners have become increasingly cynical about the cranes dotting their skyline in recent years. But an ambitious new building project has the potential to change their minds.

A group of Christians, Muslims and Jews is trying to crowdsource funds to build a place where they can all worship: Berlin's "House of One" is aiming to become the world's first building to combine a church, a synagogue and a mosque under one roof.

The competition to design such a project was won by the local firm Kuehn Malvezzi in 2012. Their proposal was for a modernist structure in which the three religions could pray in three separate rooms. A fourth room with a 32m-high domed roof, joining the prayer rooms, would host regular discussions and meetings between the three communities.

One key aspect is that all three religions will be allocated the same amount of space: "One way would have been to try to find the lowest common denominator among the three religions", says Roland Stole, House of One's project manager. "But we want to let each religion live out its faith fully and start developing respect for other belief systems from there".

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