Spotlight on Religious Spaces: St George Orthodox Church by Wallmakers  

Made from humble mud, the contemporary architecture of the St George Orthodox Church at Mattanchery designed by Wallmakers takes inspiration from the early symbols of eastern Christianity.

Curated by: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Jino Sam Panayil, courtesy Wallmakers  

The site

St George Orthodox Church at Mattanchery was built in AD 1615, and is the first church of Christians in Kerala. Years of negligence and encroachment had left this historical monument in shambles. The head of the Christian sect in Kerala (His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Paulose-II) took a brave step in rebuilding this monument — keeping the foundation intact.

The design intent

With increasing demand over resources, it is the responsibility of architects to use materials with less embodied energy. Mud as a material can be expressed in its true form through various methods like earth blocks, rammed earth, wattle and daub and many more. This exploratory spirit combined with pressing demands inspired the re-design and construction techniques for this monument. Energy-efficient and cost-effective Compressed Stabilised Earth Block (CSEB) and rammed earth were the dominant materials used in this project.

The construction methods

The architecture of this contemporary building — which features domes, vaults and arches that surround a peaceful central volume — rose from early symbols of eastern Christianity. This central space ends at an altar blessed by the Marthoma cross, or the “cross of light” which streams in rays of light, a concept inspired from architect Tadao Ando. The masons were trained to create the structure using a chain-study construction technique (an age old method formulated by Antonio Gaudi which helps stabilise the right shape of the arch before the execution begins); and to build with CSEB using ancient Nubian technology which involves masonry with earth blocks and mud mortar without shuttering to create a wide range of arches, domes and vaults — a method reintroduced to 20th century by architect Hassan Fathy.

Fact File

Project: St George Orthodox Church
Location: Mattanchery, Kochi
Area: 3,450 sq ft
Principal architect: Vinu Daniel
Design team: Archana Nambiar, Jincy Abraham, Bibu Behanan, Shobitha Jacob and Melvin Davis