Moravian Institute in Rajpur, Dehradun was established in 1963 by Br Eliyah Thsetan Phunthsog whilst he was undertaking the revision of the New Testament in Tibetan for the Bible Society of India. During this time he met a number of Tibetan refugees who had just fled from their homeland across the Himalayas. What blossomed over the years was a work involving a school, a hostel and a vocational training program.
The Church building is located in the beautiful valley of Dehradun, which is at foothills of the Himalayan range in India. The Client - Moravian Church gave us a brief that the Church building should not be a conventional looking Church building and in keeping with the philosophy of the Church, it should break away from conventionality. A building was envisaged keeping in mind the design brief and the beautiful settings of the site.
Attempt was made to design a building which breaks the horizontality and vertically of a typical building but which seems to spring from the ground and also allows the surrounding landscape to climb onto it, with the intent that the building merges with the landscape and looks well integrated in the beautiful landscape rather than stand apart.
White marble has been used to clad the building, in order to give it a chaste and pure effect, keeping in mind that the building will be used for worship. The marble has strips of green Udaipur marble at of the edges of the white marble surfaces and steps etc, so that it reflects contemporary fine line aesthetics.
Building has been designed with simple lines, with the hope that it imparts a timeless quality.
2006
2009
The building is made with a r.c.c. frame structure and brickwork.
Ajaye K. Johnson - Designer
S. Johnson - Structural Designer
Rana - Draftsperson
