San Sebastian is constructing a new building which could be used by different faith groups separately or together, located in the university grounds, to provide a symbolic representation of interfaith principles. This had been created as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations by students from a Higher Technical School of Architecture with support from San Sebastian Council and a local university.
The students had engaged with local religious groups to understand their requirements, and then built an open structure which could be used by a range of different local religious groups separately or together. This can be seen as a visual demonstration of how religions can use public spaces, having no more or less rights than any other group, and how professions and public institutions can engage with them in dialogue to understand their needs and respond accordingly.
This structure is called ‘Möbius’ . Within the city itself, this had been balanced alongside other spaces such as the creation of a local mosque building which had brought together Muslims of different cultural backgrounds across the city, which saw its role as being both providing space for Muslims and improving opportunities for those from the wider communities to understand what went on in that place of worship.
