The Lord's House for Mallankara Orthodox church at Chathannoor, Kollam

Designing the lord’s house is always an architectural challenge. All of our architectural legends have been based on places of worship - whether ancient stone temples with their intricate carvings, domed mosques, or the tall church spires. These are edifices that have the responsibility of awakening hearts to enlightenment, peace, and harmony. We were approached to design the chapel for the Malankara orthodox church - and this was to be designed primarily as a worship space for the inhabitants of a care home functioning nearby as well as for the people in the neighborhood. This was to be the building that echoed the hopes and prayers of the little girls in the girl’s home. There were, as in any building of such import, multiple voices that wanted to dictate the form and feel of the building, but to us, we were sure that it needed to be a place for those without voices - and thus should reflect that which is mystical in our own surroundings.

Intentionality and purpose should be the defining characteristics of a place of worship.In the era of cookie cutter concrete boxes that come up all around and cuts off the workers from any kind of creative satisfaction,we wanted to create a space that stood out, and allowed for individual creativity. If the painstakingly laid out bricks and neatly pointed joints were to be hidden off in a plain monotonous grey plaster, how is it any different from any other building? For the brick-layers, how is it in anyway “their work”? Thus, the church were to have exposed brickwork and exposed concrete. The work that went into it was highlighted rather than hidden. While initially skeptic, the workers were overjoyed to find their efforts beautifully come together and shown to the world. “This”, they realised, is a ‘skill’. “This”has value! “This” was theirs. We are also quite happy to say that the very same people are still with us - with their newly learned craft unfolding at different sites in different ways - always with happiness. They have come to realise that not in plastered in monotony but in individual flawness lies beauty.

The mysticism for architects lie in the materials we use. It lies in the form that we design, and the spaces that it creates.Since the church was to be built at a high ground, there would be enough light all day and all year round, and we could make use of this to design in crosses in the walls that let in light to the alter and the space inside. Isnt that what a cross symbolize anyway? The divine light that fell on human beings through the son that was crucified?