Papal Podium

Papal Podium, designed by Lalichan Zacharias, is a Christian religious gathering space featuring a hemispherical structure held by four curved pillars forming a Holy Cross, symbolizing faith and unity, and visited by the Pope for a sacred offering.

The Beginning………

Ar. Lalichan’s journey with Religious Architecture dates back to 1986, when H.H.Pope John Paul visited Cochin. The church called for a design competition for the temporary podium to be erected at the HMT ground, Kalamassery, for H.H Pope John Paul to celebrate the Holy mass. The requirement was to accommodate 300 concelebrants along with him, for the mass, on the podium.

Many leading Architectural firms of South India were directly invited by the church to submit designs. Seeing the news in one of the English dailies, Lalichan and his then partners in Sony Mathai Lalichan Architects, volunteered and submitted a design for the podium. The concept was derived from the small skull CAP that the Popes used to wear. The roof shaped like skull Cap was supported on Criss crossing arches, was the design. The podium was erected in two different levels, cut and shaped from a small hillock at the undulating terrain of the HMT Ground. The top most level of the podium was to accommodate the Pope and the Second level, accommodated the concelebrants.

The spaces in between the levels and beyond were richly landscaped. A sloping lawn was created around the round podium to accommodate the elevation from the ground. Around 4 to 5 Lakhs of people attended the mass and the ceremony.

The structure of the Arches and the dome were erected in steel truss and covered with plywood and painted. Once finished the structure looked like concrete, solid structure.

The church recovered 70% of the cost by reselling the scrap, after the function.

The design of the iconic structure lead me into the designs of many religious buildings like seminaries and churches.

The Design Trail……….

“Looking back, I have done designs for many small and large churches in the state. Designing a church is very challenging. We have to cater to the demand of a whole community in the Parish. Most of the Parish members will be having their own dreams about their church. Its so close to their heart like their own house. So selling our thoughts and ideas accommodating their dreams or deviating from their ideas, is the most challenging part of the design. There will be constant interventions from the people even during the progress of the work. But sailing through the process and bringing the project to completion gives a lot of satisfaction. Creating church design is a passion for me and not merely a business.”

Ar. Lalichan Zacharias