Church of the Risen Christ : Rendition in 3D of Ecological Designer Clifford Espinosa's Green Church to be built at Smokey Mountain, Tondo Manila, Philippines.
The Green Church: Reclaiming Lost Identity through Renewing the Habitat
The Forgotten Identity
Over the years of residing in Smokey Mountain, the corruption in Manila culture and the hostile environment that grew in such place erased the peaceful demeanor in the former peasants. They have now forgotten their own culture in order to survive.
How then, can a church help them change?
A man once said, “Inaayon ng tao ang sarili niya sa hitsura ng kapaligiran niya.” People act according to their environments.
How would society expect people of the slums to act properly if they were not given opportunity for proper education? They have meager resources, and any that one owns can easily be stolen by another if they aren’t careful. With the entire world against them, they cannot even afford to trust each other. They have wars amongst themselves, stuck in an endless cycle of “survival of the fittest.” It is simply unreasonable to expect the poor to act as any secure citizen would.
Morals do not count in a world where the only choice is either to live or to die.
Giving the Smokey Mountain inhabitants a secure place to stay, a refuge and a place of rekindling old identities, is a wonderful initiative by MISSIO MUNICH, Germany.
The Church
Standing 15 meters above the ground, this church is the first of its kind to be built on such an environment. Green designer Clifford Espinosa employs basic physics concepts to build a naturally-lit and well-ventilated design apt for the Philippine climate. Earth-friendly materials dominate the structure.
The abundance of plants and grass ensures that no land is taken from the earth, as the soil we have built upon is only relocated.
Entering this church, the dark Smokey Mountain culture will cease to exist, if only for a moment. Seeing the familiar landscape of lush trees and plants, the innocent peasant is revived. And slowly, gradually, the beautiful old culture will resurface.
We create conditions of life. A green church, tracing elements from Philippine social and architectural history, is conducive to psychological healing. Father Alfredo Sabado insists that it should be a church for the poor; something people of Smokey Mountain can own, take care and be proud of. By building this church, we hope to unite the residents into a self-sustaining community.
Church Audience point of view.
Parish Priest point of view.