Principles for designing a church in multicultural context

Abstract

Religious harmony in multicultural society is important. Throughout the history, religion is considered to be the fault line in diverse society. Malaysia is a multiracial country that embraces diversity but racial tensions still prevails. Unfortunately, the current churches in Malaysia are not reflecting the Christian image of interacting with multicultural society. The concept of Christianity as a harmonious religion has been taken lightly. On the other hand, church architecture style which is a reflection of the physical manifestation Christianity remained unchanged for centuries and imitated blindly constantly. The churches in Malaysia are not expressing a progressive image of Christianity towards diversity and universality. This research studies about the universal values of Christianity that is suitable for enhancing harmonious interaction with humanity, nature, and spiritual self. The objective of this research is to study the influence and applicability of Christian universal values into church architecture. The research uses case studies method to highlight the expression and characteristic of universal values in church architecture. The universal values are examined through traditional and selected modern churches. The findings revealed that there are four applicable principles when designing a church in multicultural society. The principles are: harmony with all men; harmony with nature; versatility in acceptance of others; and respect towards heritage or the past. These design principles and methods can be said to be timeless in nature, applicable to a church architecture in multicultural society.