Study of Spatial Organization of the Contemporary Churches in Bangladesh

STUDY OF SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY CHURCHES IN BANGLADESH

FLORA ROSELINE NELSON

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE November 2016

Department of Architecture BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY Dhaka, Bangladesh.

CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION

It is declared that this thesis or any part of it has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of degree or diploma.

Signature:

FLORA ROSELINE NELSON Name

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that I am responsible for the work submitted in this thesis, the original work is my own except as specified in acknowledgements or in footnotes, and that neither the thesis nor the original work contained therein has been submitted to this or any other institution for a degree.

DATE:

(Signed)

Acknowledgements

This thesis has come to reality with the kind support, help, as well as guidance of many individuals whom I would like to extend my deepest gratitude.

Foremost I would like to thank almighty God for the strength, good health, patience, and wisdom in order to understand the course of works for this thesis and finish it.

I would then like to thank my supervisor Dr. Catherine Daisy Gomes, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), for introducing me to the topic as well for believing in me. My deepest gratitude to my supervisor for the guidance, useful comments, and spontaneous engagement through the learning process of my thesis. She consistently steered me in the right direction whenever she thought I needed it.

I am highly indebted to all my family members for giving me support of all sorts through this time. I am grateful to my father, Mr. George Fernando Nelson, for continuously helping me with useful information about churches, accompanied me to some churches. My mother, Mrs. Lillian Nelson also owes appreciation for the mental support whenever I felt frustrated. My husband, Altaf Hossain, owes a special appreciation for his constant mental support, and encouragement. I express my gratitude to my younger brother, George Frank Nelson, my uncle Mr. Dominic Ajoy Gomes, Tanjeeba Nawrin Chowdhury, Tareq Abdullah, Aurchita Baroi, and Silvia Karmokar for their support during the survey of this study.

My gratitude towards all the parish priests of the Catholic churches, the pastors of the Protestant churches, and the sacristans for giving me their kind permission, many important information, and extended their help during my church survey.

My kind thanks and appreciation are also extended to those who helped and supported me indirectly during my survey or writing period of this thesis.

Flora Roseline Nelson November, 2016

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Abstract:

A church is a space for the congregation of the Christian community for worship and prayer and also known to be the most sacred place. This is a place for the followers of Jesus Christ where one can surrender oneself to the Creator and acknowledge His superiority. Christianity in this sub-continent was introduced as a foreign religion by the European tradesmen and the colonists who came from different countries of Europe and among them Portuguese missionaries were the pioneers in this evangelical and religious activities.

In an earlier study by Gomes (2003), it was seen that, the architectural characteristics of the traditional churches in Bangladesh have resemblances with the Early European churches along with some local influences, as they were built by foreign traders and missionaries. The contemporary churches of Bangladesh started to be built after 1947 when the British left this sub-continent. The basic components of churches, such as, narthex, nave, altar, aisles, etc. are present in contemporary churches but in different forms from the traditional ones.

There are three types of spaces present in the contemporary local churches, and they are: congregational spaces, sacred space, and service spaces. Organization, hierarchy, and sequence of these spaces bring out the spiritual quality of a church. This study focuses on the spatial organization of the 30 selected contemporary local churches both Catholic and Protestant with the help of ‘Space Syntax’ methodology accompanied with JASS software of the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. The importance of spaces can be defined by proper depth, integration, and configurational quality. Altar is the most sacred space of a church, so the depth and integration value of this space provide segregation quality from the congregational spaces, such as, narthex or nave. These churches have quite a numbers of spaces with so much interconnection which gradually put an effect on the quality of the spaces.

Keywords: spatial organization, contemporary church, Space Syntax, Bangladesh

Table of Contents

Candidate’s Declaration ...... ii Acknowledgements ...... iii Abstract……………...... iv Table of Contents ...... v List of Figures...... viii List of Tables ...... X

CHAPTER 1: PREAMBLE………………………………………………………………………1

1.1 Introduction ...... 2 1.2 Background of the study...... 3 1.3 Spatial organisation of Churches ...... 4 1.4 Research aims, and objectives, and possible outcome ...... 5 1.5 Scope and Limitations ...... 6 1.6 Research Rationale ...... 6 1.7 Organization of the thesis ...... 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………....8

2.1 Introduction ...... 9 2.2 Church: A Religious Space ...... 9 2.3 Development of European Churches...... 13 2.4 Churches in Bangladesh ...... 21 2.4.1 Evolution of Churches in Bangladesh ...... 23 2.4.2 Architectural Characteristics of Early Churches ...... 25 2.5 Components of Contemporary Churches ...... 27 2.6 Conclusion ...... 30

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………31

3.1 Introduction: ...... 32 3.2 Selection of the contemporary local churches as case study: ...... 32 3.3 Background of the selected the contemporary local churches: ...... 34 3.4 Selection of the Methodology: ...... 37

3.4.1 Literature Survey: ...... 37 3.4.2 Field Survey: ...... 37 3.4.3 Spatial Analysis: ...... 37 3.5 Identification for parameters for methodology: ...... 41 3.6 Analytical Framework: ...... 44 3.7 Conclusion: ...... 45

CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDIES………………………………………………………………..46

Introduction: ...... 47 Case Studies: ...... 49 Components of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh: ...... 79 Narthex: ...... 79 Nave: ...... 85 Altar: ...... 90 Aisles: ...... 97 Choir: ...... 98 Verandahs: ...... 99 Confessional Room: ...... 100 Baptistery: ...... 101 Bell Tower: ...... 102 Pastor’s Office: ...... 103 Comparative study of the Traditional and Contemporary churches: ...... 104 Conclusion: ...... 106

CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL ORGANISATION……………………………….107

5.1 Introduction: ...... 108

5.2 General Configurational Properties of Local Traditional Churches: ...... 108

5.3 General Configurational Properties of the Contemporary Churches: ...... 111

5.3.1 Choice of Movement: ...... 115 5.3.2 Spatial Analysis considering Depth: ...... 118 5.3.3 Spatial Analysis considering Integration: ...... 120 5.4 Discussion:...... 123

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………...126

Introduction: ...... 127

Recapitulation of the Main Objectives: ...... 127

6.2.1 Spatial Organisation of Contemporary Churches: ...... 128 6.2.2 Comparative Study of the Traditional and Contemporary Churches: ...... 132 Conclusion: Creating spiritual environment in Contemporary Churches ...... 135

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………137

APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………141

Appendix 1: List of Catholic churches from all over Bangladesh ...... 142

Appendix 2: J-Graphs of the 30 selected churches in Bangladesh ...... 147

Appendix 3: RRA values of the spaces of the 30 selected churches in Bangladesh ...... 155

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List of Figures:

Figure 2.1: Map of the Early Christian World ...... 14

Figure 2.2: Plan and Section of Basilican Church of St. Peter, Rome ...... 14

Figure 2.3: Typological classifications of the Post-Byzantine period churches in Albania .... 17

Figure 2.4: Examples for modern architectural styles ...... 19

Figure 2.5: Traditional and contemporary church layout and interior ...... 19

Figure 2.6: Plans and Photos of some contemporary European churches ...... 20

Figure 2.7: Examples of plans of the early churches according to categories ...... 24

Figure 2.8: Typical indigenous church plan, section, & characteristics of Kerala ...... 26

Figure 3.1: Example of justified access graph ...... 39

Figure 3.2: Space-Types in a Graph ...... 40

Figure 3.3: Example of spatial analysis of a church plan ...... 43

Figure 4.1: Holy Rosary Church, Tejgaon, Dhaka ...... 49

Figure 4.2: St. Lawrence Church, Kafrul, Dhaka ...... 50

Figure 4.3: Holy Spirit Church, Tuitaal, Dhaka ...... 51

Figure 4.4: St. Joseph’s Church, Dharenda, Savar ...... 52

Figure 4.5: St. Peter’s Church, Dhakua, Mymensingh ...... 53

Figure 4.6: St. Anthony’s Church, Boxonogor, Dhaka ...... 54

Figure 4.7: Good Shepherd Cathedral, Dingadoba, Rajshahi ...... 55

Figure 4.8: Presentation of Our Lord, Sursunipara, Rajshahi ...... 56

Figure 4.9: Christ, the Savior Church, Boldipukur, Rangpur ...... 57

Figure 4.10: St. Francis of Assisi Church, Dhanjuri, Dinajpur ...... 58

Figure 4.11: Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jamal Khan, Chittagong ...... 59

Figure 4.12: Holy Spirit Chapel, Banani, Dhaka ...... 60

Figure 4.13: St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Golla, Dhaka ...... 61

Figure 4.14: St. Christina’s Church, Mohammadpur, Dhaka ...... 62

Figure 4.15: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kakrail, Dhaka ...... 63

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Figure 4.16: St. Mary Queen of Apostles’ Church, Mirpur-2, Dhaka ...... 64

Figure 4.17: St. Augustine’s Church, Mathbari, Gazipur ...... 65

Figure 4.18: St. John the Baptist Church, Tumilia, Gazipur ...... 66

Figure 4.19: St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori, Gazipur ...... 67

Figure 4.20: Church of Holy Family, Doripara, Gazipur ...... 68

Figure 4.21: St. Andrew’s Church, Church of Bangladesh, Mirpur, Dhaka ...... 69

Figure 4.22: Bangladesh Baptist Church, Farmgate, Dhaka ...... 70

Figure 4.23: Mirpur Baptist Church, Mirpur-10, Dhaka ...... 71

Figure 4.24: Mohakhali Baptist Church ...... 72

Figure 4.25: St. Thomas’ Church New Center, New Eskaton, Dhaka ...... 73

Figure 4.26: Bethel Assemblies of God Church, New Eskaton, Dhaka ...... 74

Figure 4.27: Immanuel Baptist Church, Green Road, Dhaka ...... 75

Figure 4.28: Gethsemane Baptist Church, Mirpur-10, Dhaka ...... 76

Figure 4.29: Dhaka Central Methodist Church, Mirpur ...... 77

Figure 4.30: Seventh Day Adventist Church, Mirpur-1, Dhaka ...... 78

Figure 5.1: Exterior view of (Old) St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church ...... 109

Figure 5.2: Plan and J-Graph of a local traditional church ...... 109

Figure 5.3: J-Graph of the churches with 7 to 8 numbers of spaces ...... 113

Figure 5.4: J-Graph of the churches with 4 to 6 numbers of spaces ...... 114

Figure 5.5: Ringyness of Altars in selected Catholic and Protestant churches ...... 117

Figure 6.1: J-Graph of the Contemporary Churches ...... 126

Figure 6.2: Traditional and contemporary European and Local churches ...... 131

List of Tables:

Table 2.1: Typical Characteristics of Early European churches ...... 16

Table 3.1: Numbers of Catholic Churches built in Bangladesh ...... 33

Table 3.2: Numbers of Contemporary Protestant churches from all over Bangladesh ...... 34

Table 3.3: Selected contemporary churches for case study ...... 35

Table 4.1: Selected case studies with reference numbers ...... 47

Table 4.2: Description, Percentage of Area, Plan, and Image of Narthexes of case studies .... 80

Table 4.3: Number and Percentage of the narthexes in the studied churches ...... 84

Table 4.4: Calculation of the percentages of the areas of the narthexes of case studies ...... 85

Table 4.5: Description, Percentage of Area, Plan, and Image of Naves of case studies ...... 85

Table 4.6: Number and Percentage of selected churches with/without aisles ...... 90

Table 4.7: Calculation of the percentages of the areas of the naves of case studies ..... 90

Table 4.8: Description, Percentage of Area, Plan, and Image of Altars of case studies ...... 91

Table 4.9: Connection of Altar with other Spaces ...... 95

Table 4.10: Accessibility of Sacristy of the studied churches from different spaces ...... 96

Table 4.11: Calculation of the percentages of the areas of the altars of case studies .... 96

Table 4.12: Numbers and Percentages of studied churches with and without aisles ..... 97

Table 4.13: Plans and Images of some present aisles of the case studies ...... 97

Table 4.14: Placement and Percentage of the Choir space of the studied churches ..... 98

Table 4.15: Plans and Images of some choir spaces of the case studies ...... 98

Table 4.16: Specifications and orientations of the studied churches ...... 99

Table 4.17: Plans and Images of some of the present verandahs of the case studies ... 99

Table 4.18: Characteristics of the confessional space in contemporary churches ...... 100

Table 4.19: Plans and Images of some of the present confessional spaces of the case studies ..... 100

Table 4.20: Type of space present for Baptism in the studied churches ...... 101

Table 4.21: Plans and Images of some of the present baptismal spaces of the case studies ... 101

Table 4.22: Positions and Specifications of bell towers ...... 102

Table 4.23: Plans and Images of some of the present bell towers of the case studies ...... 102

Table 4.24: Positions and placements of the pastor’s office ...... 103

Table 4.25: Plans and Images of some of the present pastors’ offices of the case studies ...... 103

Table 4.26: Comparative study of Early European, Traditional, and Contemporary local churches ...... 105

Table 5.1: Spatial Characteristics of the old St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori ...... 110

Table 5.2: Depths of Space with Order of Depths of the old St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori ...... 110

Table 5.3: Integration of Space with Order of Integration of the old St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori ... 110

Table 5.4: Number of Spaces in the Churches ...... 111

Table 5.5: Type of Churches with different Configurations...... 115

Table 5.6: Numbers of studied churches with rings near entrance...... 115

Table 5.7: Spatial Characteristics of studied local contemporary churches ...... 116

Table 5.9: Numbers and Percentages of Specifications of Altars...... 117

Table 5.10: Depths of different spaces in the studied churches ...... 118

Table 5.11: Depths of Space with Order of Depths ...... 119

1 ( ) Table 5.12: Integration values 푅푅퐴 of spaces in the church with Order of Integration...... 122

Table 5.13: Percentages of various numbers of spaces in the case studies ...... 123

Table 6.1: Percentages of below and above 6 numbers of spaces in case studies ...... 128

Table 6.2: Numbers and Percentage of the basic spaces in the studied churches ...... 130

Table 6.3: Depths of different spaces in the studied churches ...... 131

Table 6.4: Spaces with highest and lowest Integration Values ...... 132

CHAPTER 1: PREAMBLE

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background of the study

1.3 Spatial organisations of churches

1.4 Research aims and objectives, and possible outcome

1.5 Scope and Limitations

1.6 Research Rationale

1.7 Organization of the thesis

1.1 Introduction:

A Church is the most sacred place for praying purposes for the Christian community. According to many linguists, the word ‘church’ derives from the Greek word ‘kyriakos’ meaning ‘of the Lord’ (McNamara, 2011). As definition we can say that, a church is a space for the congregation of the Christian community for worship and prayer to the Lord. This is a place for the followers of Christianity where one can surrender oneself to the Creator and acknowledge His superiority. From early times, it has always been a critical part for the followers to gather in one place and pray. From this urge, the place where they pray became an important part and thus a church became the physical form of the space to pray. As a religious place, church is a very powerful and dynamic place because it influences the followers to practice religious activities, which helps the followers with other regular activities (Kilde, 2008). Church encourages the gathering of people at all times, and sometimes church does not act solely as a religious place or a place to worship or pray to the Creator but also it acts as a social place. This specific religious building is built in such a way that the believers feel an urge from within to go inside the church, and pray. Thus church is a place for the spiritual union of believers and therefore the Church building must shelter the community of the worshippers.

From the time of the birth of Christianity as a religion, there was always a need for a place to pray and perform other rituals. Thus, building a church as a prayer place evolved. From the 4th century, the congregations have found ways to build a church which were both long- lasting and aesthetically pleasing. A church is always the center of a parish and the oldest and structurally different from other buildings.

The space organization is very important in the process of creating a spiritual environment inside the church. The spatial quality created by the spatial organisation is solely responsible for the mystical environment inside which eventually led the followers to focus their full attention in meditation. Spatial organisation of a church depends upon the sequences of different spaces inside which is successfully maintained by the hierarchy of spaces. Apart from the hierarchy of spaces light has been playing an important role for increasing spatial quality of churches and always been a significant part of churches. In this study spatial organisation of the church will be studied for creating spiritual quality inside the church.

Church was unfamiliar building structure and Christianity was a foreign concept in this country not more than four centuries ago. Christianity was first introduced in this subcontinent by the Portuguese, British, and some other European tradesmen who came

2 here for business purposes (Gomes, 2003). From that time, they started to spread the words of Jesus Christ and introduced people to this foreign religion. The first churches in this country were built in Chittagong, Dhaka, Jessore, and Barisal (Farid, 2011). All the early churches were built with an influence of European churches with the help of local craftsmen, and local available materials (Gomes, 2003). As time went by, the concept of Christianity and Churches became familiarized to the local people.

This research, focuses on finding the spatial organisation of contemporary churches in Bangladesh. Churches which were built from 1947, after colonial period ended, are selected as the contemporary churches in Bangladesh. This study will also create an understanding about the spatial organisations. This study will further develop a comparison between contemporary churches and traditional churches in Bangladesh with respect to its spatial organisation for creating the religious and spiritual environment inside the churches.

1.2 Background of the study:

Church – an edifice to house the Christian congregation for religious activities, was developed in the western world (Flecther, 1920). The church is a special type of physical space, which becomes a social space when a congregation gathers there for religious purposes. The forms of the Roman Catholic churches were deeply influenced by the written teachings and wide-ranging speeches that surrounded them (Proctor, 2014). From an architect’s point of view, there are two important concepts for building a church: structure and purpose. Church has a glorious relationship between the way it is built and the idea of the architect behind it. Christians are dedicated to celebrate Christ joined with the communities of heaven and earth, thus churches come in many shapes, sizes, and styles according to its purposes (McNamara, 2011).

On the other hand, Cathedral is also a church which carries hierarchical and organizational position in the church structure, and serves God in the community. The physical presence of this building symbolizes both the glory of God and of the church. The presence and prominence of the Bishop’s or Archbishop’s chair facing the congregation from the altar, and also placed on a raised platform make a church a cathedral.

In the churches of Bangladesh different spaces in the church are organized following the typical layout of the European churches. This spatial organisation of the different spaces creates a sense of spirituality in the church with the hierarchy of the spaces. In addition, light, and volume, with height, construct the religious environment inside the church. It is

3 likely to be seen that, the pattern of space or the spatial organisation of any buildings, in this case churches, is highly related to create and reproduce social relations (Foster, 1989). In the local contemporary churches of Bangladesh layout seems to differ from the traditional churches and it brings a change in the hierarchy and sequences of the spaces inside the church.

1.3 Spatial organisation of Churches:

In general, spatial organisation means, the way in which the spaces are situated according to its hierarchy or integrated importance in a building. Gomes (2014) in her research of the ‘Spatial Organisation of the Middle Income Group Apartments in Dhaka’ has seen that spatial organisation is the reflection of the activities that take place in a space. Churches have various spaces and each of them have their own importance. It is very important to have a successful spatial organisation inside the church as it is a religious space and people come here to pray and worship the Almighty.

Spatial organisation of the churches can be analyzed by using ‘Space Syntax’ as a method. The focus of ‘Space Syntax’ is solely based on the relationship between human societies and spatial forms (Perugia, 2015). Spatial analysis of the churches can be done with the help of a software named J-Graph (JASS software) or Justified Access Graph. If we pay close attention and analyze the plans of the churches from different historical styles, we will find a pattern for the sequence of the spaces, whereas, in the plans of the churches from modern period, we will see that, the pattern in the sequence of spaces has no similarity, even the spaces or functions of the churches do not match at some point. At early stages, architects would emphasize on the plans of the church, like, seating arrangements for the people, position of the altar, and choir groups, and place for priests to stand and offer Mass. In the process of creating a spiritual environment inside the church there occurred many trials and errors. As time went by, some spaces or some functions were added from the changes in the liturgy practice, prayer, and worship.

First church in the history of mankind was not built until 326 AD, during the time of Emperor Constantine, when he recognized Christianity as the state religion (Flecther, 1920). Since then the church architecture and the building has been evolving through time partly by modernization and partly by replicating other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices, and local traditions. From the birth of Christianity as a religion, many churches were built with various styles in various periods of times. From a huge

4 number of historical styles (Flecther, 1920) for church architecture; the Early Christian, the Byzantine, the Romanesque, the Gothic, and the Renaissance are very significant. The changes in pattern, styles, and volume started to change from the 20th century. The use of modern building materials like steel and concrete made significant impact on the church design.

The churches in Bangladesh were not built more than 400 years ago. The concept of Christianity and churches came here in this sub-continent by the Portuguese missionaries who came in this region with the traders and colonialists (Gomes, 2003). The contemporary churches in Bangladesh were started to be built after the British left this continent. As Christianity started to become familiar among the people, the growth of Christians and the churches rose, and the functions and rituals changed too with the change of liturgy and practice.

At first most of the churches were planned simple. Most of them were with a simple altar where the priest stood facing towards the people, the seating arrangements towards the altar, and the choir behind the audience or sanctuary. Later some new spaces or functions were added, the volume, design methods and the building materials have changed simultaneously. This study will bring an analysis of changes in the spatial organisation through time, focusing on the contemporary churches in Bangladesh.

1.4 Research aims, and objectives, and possible outcome:

The aim of this study is to formulate a clear understanding of the spatial organisation of contemporary churches in Bangladesh with the following specific objectives:

1. To find out the pattern of spatial organisations of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh. 2. To trace the changes in the spatial organisation of both traditional and contemporary local churches.

Possible outcome from the research:

This study will help to understand the spatial quality in the contemporary local churches focusing on its spatial organisations. This study will evaluate the contemporary pattern in creating the religious environment in the churches with a comparison of the traditional spatial organisations.

1.5 Scope and Limitations:

A Church generally, in both Catholicism and Protestantism, has complex relationship between the elements, visible and invisible. Light has been always playing an important role inside the churches for creating a spiritual and religious environment. So, it is believed that light is a significant factor for not only creating a relationship between the Creator and the believers but also it creates a relationship between the believers and the building as well (Antonakaki, 2007). The effect of natural light and the organisation of spaces inside the church make it a space to meditate as well as pray to a superior and unseen higher power.

Light itself is a complex factor other than the spatial organisation of the church. As this study specifically will cover the organisations of spaces of the church, and the study and effects of light into the church is quite different from that, therefore, the study of light for churches are not covered here. This topic can be addressed properly and solely in further researches.

1.6 Research Rationale:

According to the Catholic Directory, 2013, there are 121 Catholic churches in all over Bangladesh. There are seven dioceses all over Bangladesh, and amongst them Dhaka is the Archdiocese because the Honorable Archbishop resides in Dhaka.

The Protestant missionaries started propagation after the British left this sub-continent. Since that time some of the Protestant missions along with the British derived groups have merged to form the Church of Bangladesh (De Rozario, 2011). The designs, forms, and structures of the later churches accommodated changes according to the local influences. New styles developed, not only in architectural styles but also in new customs of liturgy and worship practices.

For this study the spatial organisation and the sequences of functions in plans of the churches are important. The functional organisation of the Catholic churches and the Protestant churches are different. The names of the functions are in some way the same but the importance and the hierarchy of these spaces differ from each other.

1.7 Organization of the thesis:

Chapter 1 of the thesis deals with a summary of the research, aims, and objectives and a summary of the methodology and background of the thesis.

An important part of this study is the literature review. This is a study of churches in Bangladesh, their spatial organisations, transformation of spatial qualities through different periods of time, and the transformations of contemporary local ones. Chapter 2 deals with the supporting theories and facts about spatial qualities of churches focusing on spatial organisations. In addition, the transmission of Christianity in Bangladesh, the study of traditional local churches, as well as European churches, some special features for the contemporary local churches will be identified.

The next chapter is on the methodology used for this research. This study, focusing on the spatial organisation, will be analysed with ‘Space Syntax’ methodology. The aim of space syntax research helps to develop the approaches to define formed spaces in such a way that their underlying social logic can be understood (Bandyopadhyay, 2006). To conduct an analysis of spatial organisation of local contemporary churches, plans of the selected churches will be analysed with a software (JASS software) for creating ‘Justified Access Graphs’.

Chapter 4 discusses the case studies with detail descriptions of the selected 30 contemporary local churches, in which 20 churches are Catholic and the rest 10 churches are Protestant. The main attention of this chapter is to find out the spaces present and their quality in creating spiritual environment inside the churches.

Chapter 5 consists of spatial analysis of the contemporary local churches in Bangladesh with the help of J-Graphs of JASS software. This chapter leads to finding the patterns of spatial organisations of contemporary churches, the hierarchy of spaces, as well as depth and integration of spaces.

Chapter 6 will be a summary of the whole study with a clear understanding of the spatial organisations of local contemporary churches and comparative study of the contemporary local churches with the churches.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 2.2 Church: A religious space 2.2.1 Catholic Church 2.2.2 Protestant Church 2.3 Development of European Churches 2.4 Churches in Bangladesh 2.4.1 Evolution of Churches in Bangladesh 2.4.2 Architectural Characteristics of Early Churches 2.5 Components of Contemporary Churches 2.6 Conclusion

2.1 Introduction:

Church is the main religious space for the followers of Christ for worship and prayer. It is also the most vibrant and sacred space for Christians as they feel that they are spiritually and divinely connected to God, when inside. The concept of churches and Christianity came to this continent by the Portuguese missionaries. The primordial Christians who came to this area were the Portuguese traders and businessmen who came by sea to this continent. At first they arrived in some areas of Chittagong. The missionaries came into this country along with the Portuguese traders. Following the footsteps of the Portuguese traders, Franciscan, Dominican, Augustinian, and Jesuit missionaries came to settle down in Cranganore, Cochin and Goa (Farid, 2011, p. 72). The first Catholic Church was built at the end of 16th century. The oldest of the Dhaka city was built in the year 1677 which is situated at Tejgaon by the Portuguese Augustinian missionaries (Farid, 2011).

The purpose of this chapter is to understand the theoretical framework of this study. This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section discusses about the church as a religious space with the description of Catholic and Protestant churches. The second section focuses upon the development of European churches with the historical backgrounds and growth of churches in the European countries from the early period of time. The third section discusses about evolution of the churches in Bangladesh, with a clear understanding of the architectural styles and designs of the early churches in Bangladesh. Finally, a brief discussion about the spaces and changes of those spaces through different periods of time will help us understand how the spatial organisation is important for churches to perform ritual or gathering or both.

2.2 Church: A Religious Space

Bentel and Bental (1990) described church as the ‘house of worship’ for the followers of Christianity and precisely in nature an important public building. To meet all the concerns it has been established that, a church is basically a gathering or meeting place for worship and prayer as well as other congregational activities. The church does not only give a functional environment to provide a comfortable atmosphere but also a significant spatial quality to create a spiritual aura and makes the ritual or prayer meaningful. From the early period of building churches had followed traditional rules concerning the spatial organisations but as time changed along with the rules and regulations of Christianity, changes came into the spatial organisation as well.

According to Pickard (2005), there are some general characteristics in the arrangement of churches. The decreasing number of the followers in the past 50 years have turned many churches redundant and for this reason new ritual practices and new forms of churches have to be developed. In earlier times, the language for the prayer ceremony was Latin, and this is the main reason of the decrease interest of the congregation to join the prayer ceremony. But nowadays, the prayer ceremony takes place as per the main language of the community, and thus it grew interest and admiration among the followers to go to churches. Most of the churches these days provide spaces for community gathering along side the main prayer hall, like, meeting rooms, counselling rooms, and/or offices which give the church a key consideration which is flexibility. Traditional churches gave emphasis on the importance of liturgy1 and the related functions. There are some liturgical requirements needed for the religious attitide of the denomination or worshippers, they are, Altar or Table, Baptistery, Communion rail, Confessional Box, Font, Lectern, Pulpit, and seating and Pews. Amonst them Altar is the most important element in a church layout. In traditional churches it was seen that the Altar was situated at the East end of the church. To indicate the importance and spiritual quality, the Altar is usually located on a platform which is a few steps higher than the nave and the rest of spaces as well. Nowadays, in contemporary churches, the sizes, shapes, and orientation of Altar vary from church to church.

Bentel and Bental (1990) expressed that, the main factor of the plan of the church is the involuntary relationship between the congregation and Altar area. As the church is known to be the ‘house of worship’ it must speak to the entire community about the beliefs and aspirations of the congregation. The basic emphasis of all faiths, i.e. Catholics or Protestants, is dependent on the involvement of the congregation in the action of the worship or ritual service. The creation of the connection between God and the congregation can be done only by a space with a feeling of oneness. Without it the rituals will be merely a programme without any attention of the people.

Altar on a platform for everyone to see is highly recommended for church designs. It is clear that, the spoken words by the preists or pastors or ministers play significant role on the followers, so it is very important to maintain eye contact among the two parties (the preacher and the followers). The structural elements of the churches should be placed out

1 Christians use liturgy meaning the public official service, i.e. the whole complex of official services, all the rites, ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Church. 10 of the sight lines, and the length of the church is mostly dependent upon the number of seating arranged inside the church. It is also found out that, some of the churches in various denominations has movable Altar platforms, chairs etc which permit them to try more than one arrangements or spatial organisation and use the best one which create a spiritual connection.

Altar is acknowledged as the most sacred and important space inside the chruch. There are many supporting spaces, such as, narthex, nave, sacristy, choir, confessional room etc present and all of the other spaces are somehow faced towards the Altar, which attracts the concentration of the congregation towards the Altar. There are different types of plans used for church design, i.e. rectangular, cruciform, central, L or T expandable etc. but in all of these plan types Altar is always the center of attraction (Bentel & Bental, 1990).

Different churches in Christianity and their basic doctrine:

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (pg 697) and Toon (1984, pg 22) both cited in Gomes (2003), there are various churches present for the various denominations such as:

A. The Ancient Eastern Churches:

 Armenian Apostolic Church, 451AD (Armenia was a Christian state in 374 AD)  Coptic Orthodox Church, 451 AD, in Egypt.  Syrian Orthodox Church, 451 AD, also known as Jacobytes  Orthodox Church of India 451 AD  Ethiopian Orthodox Church, since 550 AD

B. The Church of the West — The Catholic Church

C. The Churches of the Reformation --- The supporters of the Reformation doctrines gradually came to be called Protestants, which can be divided into four major groups as followings:

 Lutheranism - The largest non-Roman Catholic denominations in the West.  Anglicanism- developed from the Church of England.  Presbyterian and Reformed Churches, 1647- Protestant bodies that owe their origins to the reformatory work of John Calvin and his associates in various parts of Europe.  Free Churches –such as the Congregationalists, the Methodists, Baptists, etc.

2.2.1 Catholic Church:

Catholic churches are the prayer space for the Catholics (also known as Roman Catholics). Roman Catholicisim is centered on the Pope in Rome, and claiming direct succession of St. Peter, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus and Catholic churches are large and complex along with many religious orders and also great emphasis placed upon ligurgy and tradition (Bentel & Bental, 1990).

It is the Church of the Pope and the largest of the Christian churches (today more than 900 million members and more than ½ of all the Christians (Pawlowsky, 1994, p. 78). There are now 121 catholic churches all over Bangladesh, divided into seven dioceses (Gomes & Gomes, 2013). The Roman Catholics are organised in an intricate system that spans the life of the Church from the local parish to the papacy. Under the central authority of the papacy, the Church is divided into dioceses, whose bishops act in the name of the Pope but retain certain administrative freedom.

According to an article written by Fr. William Saunders (2003), there are four marks present in abstract form in the Catholic Church. The four marks which will help us to understand the church as the prayer space for Catholics are: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, which are inseparable and naturally linked to each other. The oneness of the church means that the Catholics are united in one faith, teachings, celebrations of the sacraments, and hierarchical structure which is purely based on the apostolic succession preserved and handed on through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Generally we can say that, the rituals or mass can be in different languages according to geographical location but the readings from the bible, and other prayers and structures will be the same. The second mark is Holy, as God himself is the source of all holiness. All the teaching, prayer, and worship, and good deeds, the church is an evident sign of holiness. The third mark is Catholic, where the word ‘Catholic’ in means ‘universal’, as Christ is universally present in the church and that He has ordered the church to evangelize the world. Finally, the church is Apostolic, which means; Jesus Christ founded the Church, and then handed over His authority to His apostles. This order of authority is handed down through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, from Pope to Cardinals to Archbishops to Bishops to Priests to Deacons. It is clear that, no bishops, no priest, nor deacons are self-ordained or self-proclaimed but ordained by the Pope who is believed to be the successor of St. Peter, upon whom Jesus put responsibility of the followers of the Christ. These four marks of the Catholic churches are not physically or structurally visible to the followers but it is a matter of realization which all of the Catholics believe from the heart.

2.2.2 Protestant Church:

Protestant churches are sometimes known as ‘free church’ because this church has spilt into many varieties of groups, mainly with the growth of the evangelical and house-church movement over the last 30 years. There are many denominations within Protestantism, such as, Methodism, Baptists, Presbyterians, The Salvation Army, Quakers etc. (Pickard, 2005).

Salo (1990) meticulously described the forms, functions, and spaces of the Protestant churches i.e. Lutheran Churches. The Protestant churches have less number of spaces inside the church than the Catholic churches but the churches have other church related spaces in the surrounding, such as, administration, Church school, social hall etc. In the Protestant churches Altar is also considered the most sacred element or space of the church similarly as Catholic churches. But the main difference between the Altar of Catholic church and Protestant church is that, in Protestant church the Altar reflects the concept of the last supper and carry a reflect of a table. The church room or the nave is the main body of the church which can be in various sizes and shapes but it must always and essentially have poise to carry out the spirit of worship. In protestant churches, the church room and the other functional spaces are intimately related with each other.

2.3 Development of European Churches:

Fletcher (1920) discussed elaborately about the development of European Churches in the respect to geographical, geological, climatic, religious, social, and historical aspects. Early Christian architecture symbolizes the birth of Christianity in the European countries. Later the early Christian styles, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic etc. periods and styles evolved.

According to Fletcher (1920), Christianity had its birth at an eastern province of the Roman empire named Judea, which was eventually carried by St. Peter, St. Paul, and other missionaries towards Rome because it was the center of the World Empire. Roman art, and architecture actually helped Christian architecture to grow and the Roman Empire helped Christianity to be recongnzable to the world. The ruins of Roman architecture helped the Early Christian style to develop. It is already known that, the main purpose of the Christian church was to accommodate the followers or worshippers of Christ who gathered there to pray thus at the beginning of Christianity various spaces not specified as church were used for worship.

Figure 2.1: Map of the Early Christian World (Fletcher, 1920, p. 253)

Figure 2.2: Plan and Section of Basilican Church of St. Peter, Rome (Flecther, 1920, p. 259)

Basilican type of plan with horizontal impression was the model used for early churches in the Early Christian period when Constantine announced Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire in 326 (Figure 2.1). The architectural characteristics of the Basilican churches were halls with a series of columns but the height of the interior spaces were low, these make the churches look longer than they really are. The vista was rounded off by an apse crowned with semi-dome with decorative paintings of Christ on golden background. Also an ‘Arch of Trimuph’ gave a dramatic transition through the entrance with the Altar. Wooden truss roof covers the central nave space. Lighting inside the church is by clearstory lighting through the gap between nave and aisles height (Figure 2.2). 14

The Byzantine period started with its founder Constantine in 330. The domical method of construction with distinguished central square covered with dome on pendentives are the main characteristics of the architecture of this period. Later this converted into a Greek cross-type plan with multiple domes. Internal space is dominated by central dome on pendentives to create vertical impression. The monumental interiors and the narthex formed as a vestibule with crowned domes are the characteristics of churches built at that time. The exteriors were no less than the interiors. The plans of churches consisted with a narthex, or entry porch at the west end, and the east end is cut off from the nave by screen of pictures.

The Romanseque period grew up after the fall of the Roman Empire in 912, from where the name was taken, and the Romanesque style has an influence of the Byzantine style. Addition of transepts and prolongation of sanctuary made the Basilican type of church a well-defined Latin cross on plan in Romanesque period. This architectural style was a combination of Roman art and the Gothic style. The principal innovation of this style is the ribbed vault. All the churches were Basilican in type, but the naves and the aisles (often two storeys in height) were vaulted with external wooden roofs. The Romanesque started to use the flying buttress under the aisle roof to counter act the thrust of the vaulted nave roof, which acted as concealed buttress. The exterior façades masked the division of the nave as well as the aisles.

The Gothic period started with a consequent new terretorial distribution of the map of the Europe by the end of the 12th century. The stability of a Gothic Church depends upon the proper adjustment of thrust and counter-thrust. The collected pressure of the nave vaulting (downward and oblique) is counter acted by buttresses. The architectutral style consists of a skeleton of piers, buttresses, arches and ribbed vaulting- all held in equilibrium. In a Gothic building, the wall system consists of small pieces of wall or buttresses at right angles to the building to take collected preserve of the ribbed vaulting. The Buttress and Pinnacles (a small turret/tower, like termination on the top of buttresses, parapets) gives aspiring tendency. Load was carried down through the frames and walls thus became non- load bearing and could be easily replaced by brilliant stained glass windows like paintings depicting the story of the Bible. The architectural characteristics of the Early European churches are shown in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Typical Characteristics of Early European churches (Fletcher, 1920)

Plan Section Characteristics

 Long perspective columns to give a horizontal and longer expression Early Christian  Termination with an Apse crowned with semi-dome with decorative paintings of Christ

on golden background

 Distinguished by the centralizd type of plan, along with having dome over nave which are sometimes supported by Byzantine semi-domes  Monumental interior and gigantic pendentives  Domical construction with the classical columnar style

 Central nave space was under simple wooden roof. Cross

vaulting of fireproof material (stone was used over square Romanesque compartments of the aisles.  Walls were roughly built and relieved externally by molding or by a series of semicircular arches on corbels.

 Generally in the form of Latin cross, with short arms in North- South as Main body stretches from East to West.  Choir is placed at the crossing and the sanctuary eastward to Gothic the crossing.  The columns or piers, which separate the nave and aisles, support the nave arcades and the walls that rise above the aisles roof.

The study of BİLGİN (2015) brought out some classification of churches in Albania which were specifically built in the post- Byzantine period on the basis of their plans, and spatial composition of these churches. From this study, the main findings and results found were, the architectural features, composition or organisations of the spaces of the churches, finding out the structural and constructional features, functional solutions for spaces involved in the churches. 16

Three types of spaces were found (Figure 2.3);

1. Single Nave (T1) 2. Cross-in Square (T2) 3. Basilicas (T3)

Figure 2.3: Typological classifications of the Post-Byzantine period churches in Albania (BİLGİN , 2015, p. 4)

In the study of BİLGİN (2015), we see that from the early period of time spatial organisation plays an important role upon the psychological and aesthetic conception of all kinds of religious buildings, and also helps categorize them with defined types (Figure 2.2). Each and every versionand type of churches which were built in post-Byzantine period have their unique characteristics. The architectural feature of the churches for this period is 17 simplicity in architecture and the uniqueness of each churches. The architectural styles of post-Byzantine period built churches vary from within the different types, location, and time. In most of the cases, interior spaces are different as well as the solutions for the treatment of interior spaces are different which are not clear from the exterior.

According to Proctor (2014), in the mid 20th century the church styles in European countries started to change at a significant rate. By that time the religious leaders as well as the followers wanted to establish church not only a place for worship or prayer but also a place for socializing. It is eveident that, church is a social space produced by human reason as well as activity. Thus from that time the forms of churches started to change and introduced a new style, which is contemporary style.

During the year 1950, churches especially the Roman Catholic churches became an integral and important part of urban planning as well. The Roman Catholic Church made exemplary influences on the forms of the church buildings by the written knowledge as well the surrounding environment. This reformation actually took place to encourage the followers to attend churches with active participation and concentration. Before this time, the rituals were only done by the priest facing away from the audience and the language was Latin. Eventually this type of practice discouraged the followers from coming to church. After a realization the religious leaders thought of rituals performed by local language, which again extended the interests of the followers to come to the churches. From 1955 contemporary architectural styles for churches started to be accepted in Britain both for Catholic and Protestant churches (Proctor, 2014).

According to McNamara (2011), 20th century’s movement known as ‘modernism’ required a revolutionary pause from the established tranditionalism. In the modern times, churches adopted and developed their forms aesthetically as an evidence of the relevence of Christianity to the modern world. In this modern period, buildings especially churches were built as sculptures, for example, Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, France (Figure 2.4) which used concerete as a sculptural medium. The main characteristics of the modern architecture are: the exposed materials like concrete or steel, sculpture like building forms, and absence of the precise historical references. The use of modern materials is one of the extraordinary characteristics of the contemporary churches. The use of exposed steel- reinforced concrete to make a composition of intersected void shapes in the Church of Ste-Jeanne d’Arc in Nice, France (Figure 2.4) is the perfect example for modern architectural style.

Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ste-Jeanne d’Arc in Brasilia Cathedral, Brazil Ronchamp, France Nice, France

Plan

Source: (McNamara, 2011, Source:http://plansofarchitecture.tumblr. p. 89) com/post/27796594736/le-corbusier- Source:http://image.slidesharecdn.com/ the-chapel-of-notre-dame-du-haut, oscarbhai-150423161808-conversion- gate02/95/oscar-niemeyerppt111-18- 638.jpg?cb=1429806104

Image

Source:http://www.dezeen.com/2016/07 Source:https://static1.seenic /24/le-corbusier-notre-dame-du-haut- e.com/image_uploader/phot ronchamp-chapel-france-unesco-world- os/51/large/sainte-jeanne-d- Source:https://eliinbar.files.wordpress.c heritage-list/ arc-church-nice-nice.jpg om/2011/01/metropolitancathedral.jpg

Figure 2.4: Examples for modern architectural styles

Another significant charcteristics for modern churches is the creation of the Holy emptiness inside churches. Here, an emptiness is created in the space of Altar to create a significance of the Altar as a holy mountain rather than a decorated table (Figure 2.5). The creation of the Holy emptiness eventually developed the understanding of God to each of the the followers according their own understanding (Figure 2.5).

Figure 2.5: Traditional and contemporary church layout and interior (Source: https://www.google.com.bd/modern+church+interiors+images)

The forms of churches in this period changed in an extreme way. In the year 1970, Brasilia Cathedral (Figure 2.4) was built with concrete columns which were curved inward, and the space between the columns was filled with stained and clear glass. Thus by modern period, architectural styles of buildings especially for churches changed radically without any refernces of historical styles (Figure 2.6).

Initially in contemporary European churches contemporary styles had two principles, which are:  spaces designed according to function and  implementation of modern technologies and methods for building churches.

The contibuitions of artists in stained glasses, sculpture etc. helped create the contemporary styles for the churches.

St. Mary, Liverpool

St. Agnes, Huyton, Liverpool

Contemporary Churches Contemporary

European St. Joseph, Faifley, Glasgow

St. Margaret, Glasgow Figure 2.6: Plans and Photos of some contemporary European churches (Source for plans: (Proctor, 2014), and for images: https://www.google.com.bd/modern+church+interiors+images)

2.4 Churches in Bangladesh:

Focusing on the birth of Roman Catholics in this sub-continent, Gomes (2003) and Rozario (2011) similarly expressed that, the Catholic missionaries came to Bangladesh along with the Portuguese traders who came in this sub-continent for business. Christianity and mainly Roman Catholicism was first introduced here among the local people in early 15th century. The Portuguese missionaries started their initial evengilical activities in Chittagong, as they came here using the main port there and later they shifted their activities towards Dhaka and the surrounding areas. Catholic missionaries- Augustinian, Dominican, Franciscan and Jesuit later followed the footsteps of the Portuguese missionaries and started to preach Christianity.

According to Farid (2011), the first church named ‘Holy Name of Jesus’ in Bangladesh was built in 1599 at Chandecon also known as Ishwaripur or Old Jessore near Kaliganj of Satkhira district. The second church was built in 1600 in Chittagong by the help of Arakan’s king and both of the churches were built by a Jesuit priest named Fr. Francisco Fernandez with the permission of local authority as well as with the help of local people. When Dhaka was made the capital of Bengal in 1608, the missionaries started to expand their religious activities towards Dhaka. It was the Portuguese-Augustinian missionaries who familiarized Christianity in Dhaka in 1612. They built two churches in Dhaka, the first one ‘Church of the Assumption’ in Narinda was built 1628 and the second church ‘Holy Rosary Church’ was in 1677 at Tejgaon. After establishing Christianity in Chittagong and Dhaka, they moved to Barisal and built a church in 1764 in Padrishibpur.

When the missionaries came to Dhaka from Chittagong, the Mughals were ruling Bengal at that time. They found it very difficult to spread Chritianity among the local people although it is known that, the Mughals were very helpful and friendly towards the missionaries. In 1747 missionaries established new mission in Hasnabad area and in the mid 18th century new missions were found in Padrishibpur, Barisal and soon it became a very important mission (Gomes, 2003).

According to Rozario (2011), the Roman Catholics are about half of the Christians. Bangladesh is now divided into some dioceses, where Dhaka is the archdiocese. Each diocese has their own bishop and many priests, brothers, and sisters to maintain the activities properly in various parts of the country.

The missionaries throughout Bangladesh are giving services not only to the Catholic community but also to people with other religious beliefs. The missionaries are now more concentrated on social welfare for the people.

Rozario (2011) mentioned in his paper that, the Protestant missionaries started preaching in Bengal during the time of the ruling of the British. It is evident that nine mission organizations had entered Bengal by the time the British left India in 1947. By the year 1980, there were 21 mission groups (apart from Catholics) with nearly 300 missionaries, more than a third of whom are Baptists.

Rozario (2011) also explained the history of Protestantism in Bengal. William Carey was the first missionary who introduced the Baptist mission in Bengal. The Protestant denomination came to this sub-continent with the British rulers. It is known that Protestantism came to light in Bengal 200 years after Roman Catholicism was introduced. After 1947, when the British left Bengal, a few groups started to spread their beliefs among the people and formed the sub-denomination named ‘Church of Bangladesh’.

The British entered Bengal after the Portuguese and Augustinians to rule this part in 1757. The British brought the Protestanism into the Bengal as they were mainly Protestants. The British came into this region as the East India Company which prohibited them to preach religion. For this particular reason they built small churches only for themselves. The early Protestant churches of Bangladesh are St. Xavier’s Church at Pahartali of Chittagong and the Christ Church in Nur Ahmed Road, Chittagong (Gomes, 2003).

Currently the largest Protestant missionary denomination is the Association of Baptists for World Evangelization. Among other relatively large missionary groups are: Baptist Missionary Society, Australian Baptist Mission, New Zealand Baptist Mission, Bangladesh Mission of the Southern Baptists, International Christian Fellowship and the Bangladesh Lutheran Mission. Other denominations (with starting dates of their missions in Bengal) include: Anglican Church (1838), which in Bangladesh is known as the Church of Bangladesh; the Baptist Missionary Society (British, 1793); The Bangladesh Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (1957); the Bangladesh Lutheran Church (1979); the Evangelical Lutheran Church (1957); the Garo Baptist Convention (1890); the Church Missionary Society (1805); the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship (1919); the Bangladesh Baptist Shongho (1922); the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (1958); the Churches of God (1905); the Australian Baptist Mission (1882); the New Zealand Baptist Mission (1886); the Seventh Day Adventists (1919); Assemblies of God (1954); the Oxford Mission (1895). In addition are another score or so Protestant denominations active in Bangladesh (Rozario, 2011, pp. 81-82).

The oldest and largest Protestant denomination of Bangladesh is the ‘Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha (BBCS)’; which was founded by Dr. William Carey who actually started

22 the church work in 1796. From the very beginning BBCS has involved itself in the challenge of spiritual and social development through a variety of mission programs. At present there are 10-regional districts called Anchalik Baptist Church Sangha (ABCS) in BBCS. Baptized members of the BBCS touched 22,685 and reached population is 41,395 (Source: Official leaflet of Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha (BBCS)).

2.4.1 Evolution of Churches in Bangladesh:

In a study of early churches in Bangladesh Gomes (2003) it was seen that churches were a foreign building type here and they were also built by foreign traders and missionaries.

Gomes (2007) found out the architectural characteristics of early churches of Bangladesh as well the typical layout of the churches. The architectural characteristics are as follow:

 A sequence of narthex, nave and Altar is seen in all types of early churches which initially proves that the spaces of the early churches were following typical European layout.  The nave, Altar, and sacristy were aligned with the longer axis as the European churches to keep the North-South sides for cross ventilation and natural lighting.  Towers of early churches had similarity with French and local ( Sultanate Mosques) architecture.  The Protestant churches from early period has resemblance with typical churches in England.  The early local churches bear similarities of plan, and layout with the churches of their founders.

It is seen specially that, the early churches in Bangladesh are composed of single spaces instead of aisles and nave being separated volumtrically. The Altar of the churches were carefully separated from the nave and the other spaces by an Arch of Triumph and raised above the floor level to give the space importance (Gomes, 2007).

The churches which are built in Bangladesh are mostly dependent on the geographical position and climatic conditions which majorly influences the styles of churches. Due to the humidity and rainfall of the country the layout of the rooms have to be cross ventilated. For this reason most of the earlier churches which were built in Bangladesh had their longer axis in the east-west direction allowing the north and south sides to be open for ventilation. On the other hand, the local available materials also played an important role to introduce a different style of churches for this country. The most available and low cost

23 materials of this country are bricks, sand, and cement. So all the churches here are made of these and for structures columns and beams are vastly used. The specific church buildings’ elements, like, arches, turrets, cornices, etc. are influenced by the local materials.

From the study of Ahmed & Gomes (2003, p. 50) the studied churches are grouped in three categories according to their plan and layout:

Category 01: Having two turret-like towers flanking the entrance and the verandah-like narthex leading to the nave hall, eg, Holy Rosary Church, Tejgaon

Category 02: Where the bell tower is placed centrally over the entrance porch of the church, eg, St. Peter’s Church, Sadar Ghat, Barisal

Category 03: Churches having resemblence with English churches with their buttresses and timber pitched-roof details, eg, Christ Church, Chittagong

Category 01 Category 02 Category 03 Figure 2.7: Examples of plans of the early churches (Gomes, 2003) according to categories

It is evident that, the surrounding regions of Bangladesh, e.g. India have the same architectural style for building churches. Panjikaran and Vedamuthu (2013), showed in their study that, the traditional churches which were built in 16th century in Kerala followed architectural styles of Basilican type of churches, which were from the Early Christian period.

Because of the climatic conditions, technology, society, culture, available materials etc. the early churches became a mixture of European as well as local architecture, which ultimately created a new built form and the churches were integrated into the architecture of Bangladesh (Ahmed & Gomes, 2003).

2.4.2 Architectural Characteristics of Early Churches:

Fletcher (1920) pointed out the spaces of early churches, like, narthex, nave, Altar, aisles etc. and these spaces were organized in such a way that the hierarchy, and sequence of those spaces were seen and expressed clearly. But the contemporary local churches have added some new spaces according to the needs of local architecture as well as climate. For example, some of the churches built after 1947, which in this case are considered to be the contemporary churches have verandahs in the three sides of the church. This happened because Bangladesh has warm-humid climate, so by the use of verandahs the natural sunlight can be diffused as required and they work as rain protector in the monsoon season.

Architectural characteristics in the early churches of Kerala are similar to the early churches in Bangladesh. In Kerala, the spaces of churches are known through their local language, i.e. the congregational space or the Nave is known as ‘Hykala’, the Altar is known as the ‘Madbaha’ etc. Unlike, the churches in Bangladesh the early churches of Kerala were developed according to the climatic considerations, social needs, and culture of the society. The orientation of the church, in traditional churches in Kerala was the most important element. It is found that here, in this study that, the longer axis is always with the East-West axis, which means, the Altar (locally known as ‘Madbaha’) was always placed at the East side and the main entry of the church would always be on the West side. Some other characteristics which were found in the study by Panjikaran and Vedamuthu (2013) were, the attention of the congregation towards the Altar, the width of the Altar or Madbaha is always shorter than the Nave or Hykala, the roof of the Altar part is always higher than the Nave part, windows and doors are placed only at the walls of the nave, and an additional as well as highly decorated roof were found above the roof of the Altar, which were seen from the outside.

(a) Typical Indigenous Church of Kerala- Plan, (b) Characteristics of indigeous church and Section architecture of Kerela

Figure 2.8: Typical indigenous church plan, section, & characteristics of Kerala (Panjikaran & Vedamuthu, 2013, p. 124)

In the early churches narthex was an enclosed, sometimes a covered porch situated at the western end of the church and also used only by women in that timeframe (Child, 2013). But in present times, narthex is a verandah type exterior space which is not enclosed and used before entering church by the followers as well as priests.

The most sacred and holy space of the church is the Altar. Child (2013) described that in traditional or early churches the Altar was a flat-topped wooden or stone table situated at the end the of the chancel or nave and always has a raised level than the other spaces of the church. Only this characteristic of the Altar is same as the Altar of the contemporary churches because the traditional churches had Altar canopy (decorated ceiling either suspended or directly above the Altar), Altar frontal (highly decorated material which covers the front of the Altar and main color of the church changes according to the season of the church from time to time), Altar rails (wooden or iron stucture with gates, usually across the nave in front of the Altar, and sometime the rails surrounded the Altar on all of the sides). It is understandable that, these decorative elements were there to increase the importance of the Altar as the sacred space of the church. In the local contemporary churches, the above mentioned supportive and decorative pieces are absent. The new local churches are built in much smaller area than the traditional churches, so the extra spaces or related parts of one specific space are omitted here. 26

The churches from the earlier times also has specific spaces for choir, baptistery, confession as well as bell tower. But because of space compaction the above mentioned spaces are lost in most of the contemporary churches. It is worth mentioning that, in contemporary churches some of the spaces, such as, nave and aisles have multiple uses like, the baptism ritual takes place at the end of nave, and the choir is placed on one side of the nave or in the aisles.

2.5 Components of Contemporary Churches:

The spaces which should be present at any churches are, narthex, nave, aisles, altar, sacristy, baptistery, choir space, and confessional space.

a) Narthex: The shape of a Narthex is totally related by the basic plan of the church building. It is recommended that it be at least 10 feet to permit usual movement of the congregation (Salo, 1990, p. 638). The narthex refers to the vestibule, foyer, or entrance hall of a church. The main entrance of the church opens into this area. This space is the gathering area for the congregation before entering the church. This space is sized according to the relation with the number of occupants. In the traditional churches the narthex is used as a space inside the church for mental preparation for the followers as well as the priests. b) Nave: Nave is the main congregational space for the followers of the Christianity. This space is a hall type of space where the main congregational ceremony takes place. It is important for the priests or the speakers to maintain eye contact with the followers and it is similarly important for the people to see the speaker properly without any interruption. The structures inside the churches should be placed carefully for uninterrupted sightlines. It is very important that neither the speaker nor the followers get distracted by anything inside or outside the nave (Salo, 1990). c) Aisles: The concept of aisle came from the Roman Basilica where the roof level of nave and aisles creates a gap to bring in natural light through clearstory. Aisles are the section of the church parallel and adjacent to one or both sides of the nave. Aisles usually run the full length of the nave and are separated from it by a row of arches (Child, 2013, p. 5). This spaces are usually there to bring the natural light inside the nave of the church, because naves usually have a very high height whereas the aisles always have normal heights.

d) Altar: An Altar is a flat-topped wooden or stone table, usually at the east end of the chancel, and raised above the level of the church. It contains the cross and other objects of importance (Child, 2013, pp. 5-6). Altar is a space that is present in all churches on which the priests stand and offer prayers with the followers in front of him. In some denominations, altars are the memorial table but others believe it to be the image of Christ. It also signifies the table of the eternal banquet of heaven (McNamara, 2011).

Altar is the most sacred element in the church. The Apse was used as ‘Altar’. The Priest took the central space. The Altar was the place for offerings in front of the apse.

The Pulpit and Lectern is the most actively used element in the Altar. The Pulpit has a setting form where the preacher brings the word of God and Gospel of Jesus Christ. It should be comfortably located, visible by the congregation without any obstruction to the view of the Altar, and the other elements present at the chancel. The Pulpit must have some elements, such as, Bible rest, shelf under Bible rest, a light above Bible rest to properly read the Bible, and a microphone to reach the voice of the priest to the followers attending the ritual or prayer ceremony (Salo, 1990).

The Lectern is as same element as the pulpit but in smaller form. It is sometimes used in combination with the pulpit during mass or prayer. But in most of the cases, lectern happens to be an element for small churches because is composed of the same elements as the pulpit but in a smaller scale (Salo, 1990).

There are some spaces which are related to Altar, such as, the baptismal font, sacristy, confessional cells, and in some cases choir. Sometimes the rituals which need the above mentioned spaces take place on or around the Altar.

The Baptismal Font: A basin for baptismal water to christen a child into the Christian religion. The Catholic Christians christen a child 2/3 weeks after birth. So a basin to wash the head of the child is required for the ritual.

e) Sacristy: This is a place in the church where the valuables owned by the church, such as the sacred vessels, vestments etc. are deposited (Child, 2013). This space is usually situated right behind the altar because the ceremonial cloths for the priests are kept here. f) Baptistery: Traditionally, this section of the church is placed at the West end of the church, which is reserved for the administration of the sacrament of baptism and contains

28 the font (Child, 2013). Baptistery is a separate building to contain a font for the baptismal rite (Gomes, 2003, p. 170).

In the Catholic denomination, Baptism is a ritual by which a child who is born in a Catholic family is welcomed to Christianity and the parents are bound and vowed in front of the priest to be brought up as a Catholic. This ritual, among the Catholics, is performed after a few days of the birth of the child. So it can be said that, this denomination performs infant baptism thus a small font is only necessary in the churches. Here, baptism is performed by pouring holy water on the child’s head by the priest, and vows to be taken by the parents on behalf of their child. On the other hand, it is known that the Protestants perform adult baptism.

g) Choir: This section of the church is occupied by the choristers and the clergy. This is usually the eastern arm of the building, and for this reason a section of the chancel is sometime called the choir even when it is not strictly used for that purpose (Child, 2013). h) Confessional Space: Confessional space or font is a private place where the followers of Christianity come to confess their sins to the priests. This space is a screened space, so that the no one can see anyone’s face while one is confessing. In the Protestant churches, the congregation confess all together in front of the pastor before any auspicious occasions, so in this case no separate space or room or stands needed.

According to Panjikaran & Vedamuthu (2013) the churches of Kerala built in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries show a different architectural characters from the indigenous churches of Kerala, which is a fusion of Western and Eastern religious traditions in case of spatial organisation. The new space requirements that arose due to the change in liturgy, was incorporated into the indigenous church plan without making any drastic changes in that plan (Panjikaran & Vedamuthu, 2013, p. 129). As the missionaries were introducing Christianity they were also transferring their ideas into building the church with the help of the local craftsmen but they were expert in indigenous techniques and construction process. As a result, the architectural expression of ideas were reflection of the West but the churches were developed based upon the traditions and customs of the East.

2.6 Conclusion:

From the early period, a Church was always built to fulfil the religious purpose of the followers of Christianity. From the time of the birth of Christianity the styles of building a church emerged according to the need and convenience of the followers and religious leaders.

It is seen in both early European and traditional churches in Bangladesh that the sequence and hierarchy of spaces were well maintained. It was done in this way to increase the importance of that space as the most sacred space than other spaces.

In case of the early churches in Bangladesh, it is evident that, there are resemblances between traditional European churches and early churches in Bangladesh. The early local churches were directed in east-west position. The building styles, space organization, hierarchy of spaces and connectivity between spaces bear the resemblance of the period it was built. Even though the building materials and decorations of the traditional local churches differ from the early European churches the main components of the churches were same, such as, narthex, nave, Altar, sacristy, choir, confessional room. The spiritual quality inside the traditional local churches was very much present with the hierarchy of spaces. According to the Vatican Council (1962-1965), the “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” founded an important principle which eventually helped the congregation to celebrate the mass and other rituals according to their own cultures and native languages. The council also circulated declarations on the pastoral duties of the bishops, priests as well as other church leaders, the educational activities and religious lives of the priests, missionary activities of the church, and the apostolic duties of the congregation (Source: https://global.britannica.com/event/Second-Vatican-Council).

The aim of this study is to find out the conditions and significance of the spaces of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh and also to find out how the spatial organization pattern changed from the traditional period to the contemporary period.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Selection of the contemporary local churches 3.3 Background of the selected contemporary local churches 3.4 Selection of the methodology 3.5 Identification for parameters for methodology 3.6 Analytical Framework 3.7 Conclusion

3.1 Introduction:

The aim of this study is to formulate a clear understanding of the spatial organisation of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh with the specific objectives:

1. Finding the spatial organisation of contemporary churches of Bangladesh 2. Find the changes in these churches from the traditional churches.

This study will help to understand spatial quality of the contemporary churches focusing its spatial organisation for creating religious and spiritual environment inside the churches.

The first part of this chapter explains the reasons for the selection of the contemporary churches as a case study for this research. The next part clarifies the reason for using ‘Space Syntax’ as the methodology for this study. After that, the parameters are selected here for the study to have a clear understanding about the spatial organization of the contemporary local churches. Lastly, the analytical framework will give us an understanding at a glance of this study.

3.2 Selection of the contemporary local churches as case study:

In this study, contemporary churches in Bangladesh are defined as those churches which were built after 1947. After the demise of the British Empire in 1947, Bengal was partitioned as a province of West Pakistan being renamed as East Pakistan. Dhaka was declared as its capital. The churches built after this year were in different architectural style than the early churches. By that time the architectural styles of local churches had the reflection of the local architecture, culture, socio-economic aspect etc. of this region.

As recorded in the Catholic Directory 2013, there are 121 churches all over Bangladesh among them 70 were built after the year 1947. The churches for case study are selected from the dioceses where the numbers of churches which are built after 1947 are higher than the churches built before 1947. Among the dioceses Dhaka and Rajshahi dioceses have the highest numbers of churches constructed after 1947. Most of the cases here are selected from Dhaka city because the area and Christians are higher than any other dioceses. Other selected dioceses e.g. Dinajpur, and Mymensingh are recently erected

32 dioceses and the numbers churches built after 1947 are higher than the churches built before 1947.

Table 3.1: Numbers of Catholic Churches built in Bangladesh

Number of Number of No records of Total Sl. Churches Name of the Dioceses Churches built construction number of No built before after 1947 year Churches 1947 01 Dhaka Diocese 10 15 06 31 02 Chittagong Diocese 09 08 02 19 03 Dinajpur Diocese 02 13 02 17 04 Khulna Diocese 06 04 03 13 05 Mymensingh Diocese 07 07 X 14 06 Rajshahi Diocese 04 15 X 19 07 Sylhet Diocese X 08 X 08 Total Churches in Bangladesh 37 70 13 121

In this sub-continent Christianity advanced after the arrival of Portuguese businessmen and the traditional churches were from 15th century. Chittagong was the first region to build the first church. If we analyze the construction years of the churches, we will see that, most of the churches built before 1947 are situated in Chittagong, Dhaka, and Khulna (Table 3.1). This is because the foreign tradesmen used to come for business to this region by sea route and the missionaries who came with them started to introduce this new religion to this region and started to build churches. Most of the churches in the northern part of Bangladesh were built after 1947, because when the British left this sub-continent, most of the dioceses went under the West Bengal diocese. From that period, a new style with an influence of Bengal had been consciously reflected in the churches.

According to Table 3.1, there are 70 churches which were built after 1947, and the Sylhet diocese was founded after 1947. In 1950, Dhaka became the archdiocese and Chittagong, Khulna, and Dinajpur dioceses were under the archdiocese. By the year 1970, all the dioceses had Bengali bishops. So it is already clear that, after the British left the sub- continent, the people of this sub-continent started taking over their religion according to their culture and social standards.

In case of the Protestant churches, the contemporary ones are mainly situated at one of the floors of a multi-storied building. Some of the Protestant churches have their own compound and church building. But in most cases the churches are situated along with

33 other functions, such as, schools, cooperative offices, etc. The number of Protestant churches all over Bangladesh is much higher in number than Catholic churches.

Following are the numbers of churches from some denominations of Protestant churches:

Table 3.2: Numbers of Contemporary Protestant churches from all over Bangladesh

Sl. No. Names of the Denominations Nos. of Churches 1 Bangladesh Assemblies of God 175 2 Bangladesh Assemblies of God-Dhaka ( Bethel AG) 6 3 Bangladesh Association of Baptist Church 15 4 Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship 466 5 Bangladesh Free Baptist Churches 169 6 Bangladesh Lutheran Churches 105 7 Bangladesh Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church 198 8 Bangladesh Tribal Association of Baptist Churches 190 9 Church of God- Lumdonbok 49 10 Church of God- Lalmonirhaat 13 11 Church of Nazarene Int. 867 12 Evangelical Christian Church 85 13 Evangelical Church of Bangladesh 65 14 Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bangladesh 26 15 Free Christian Churches of Bangladesh 320 16 Garo Baptist Convention 152 17 Sonjukto Christio Mondoli Shamuher Sangha 58 18 Sylhet Presbyterian Synod 87 19 Talitha Koumi Evangelical Churches 1,005 Grand Total 4,051 Source: The official website of National Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh, Mirpur-7, Dhaka, Bangladesh. http://www.ncfbangla.org/members.htm

3.3 Background of the selected the contemporary local churches:

As per Table 3.1, there are now seven dioceses in Bangladesh and among them Dhaka is the archdiocese. The archdiocese is selected according to the residence of the Honorable Archbishop of Bangladesh. Moreover, there are also six bishops appointed for the other six dioceses. There are 70 churches out of 121 churches which are built after the year 1947. According to the Table 3.1, after Dhaka, and Chittagong; churches were built in a good number in Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet. From the selected dioceses the churches are picked using random sampling.

Following is the list of the selected contemporary churches in Bangladesh for case study:

Table 3.3: Selected contemporary churches for case study

Type of Sl. Year Names of the Churches Church No. of Est. 1 Holy Rosary Church, Tejgaon, Dhaka 1993 2 St. Lawrence Church, South Kafrul, Dhaka 1985 3 Holy Spirit Church, Tuitaal, Dhaka 1993 4 St. Joseph’s Church, Dharenda, Savar 1992 5 St. Peter’s Church, Dhakua, Mymensingh 1993 6 St. Anthony’s Church, Boxonogor, Dhaka 2005 7 Good Shepherd Cathedral, Dingadoba, Rajshahi 2002

8 Presentation of Our Lord, Sursunipara, Rajshahi 2005 9 Christ, The Savior Church, Boldipukur, Rangpur 1949 10 St. Francis of Assisi Church, Dhanjuri, Dinajpur 2009 11 Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jamalkhan, Chittagong 1955 12 Holy Spirit Chapel, Banani, Dhaka 2002 Catholic Churches 13 St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Golla, Dhaka 1965 14 St. Christina’s Church, Mohammadpur, Dhaka 1990 15 St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ramna, Dhaka 1956 16 Mary Queen of Apostles’ Church, Mirpur-2, Dhaka 1995 17 St. Augustine’s Church, Mathbari, Gazipur 2013 18 St. John the Baptist’s Church, Tumilia, Gazipur 2011 19 St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagari, Gazipur 2008 20 Church of Holy Family, Doripara, Gazipur 2002 21 St. Andrew’s Church, Mirpur-2, Dhaka 1999 22 Bangladesh Baptist Church, Farmgate, Dhaka 2012

23 Mirpur Baptist Church, Dhaka 1980 24 Mohakhali Baptist Church, Dhaka 2012 25 St. Thomas’ Church New Centre, New Eskaton Road, Dhaka 1986 26 Bethel Assemblies of God Church, New Eskaton Road, Dhaka 1975 27 Immanuel Baptist Church, Green Road, Dhaka 1986 ProtestantChurches 28 Gethsemane Baptist Church, Mirpur-10, Dhaka 1966 29 Dhaka Central Methodist Church, Mirpur, Dhaka 1997 30 Seventh Day Adventist Church, Mirpur, Dhaka 1971 35

The 20 case studies covering Catholic churches in Bangladesh are selected from Dhaka, Chittagong, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, and Rajshahi. It is seen in the Table 3.1 that, most of the churches built in these areas were built after the year 1947. The increase of population, acceptance of people for this religion, and the work of the missionaries were the reasons behind building churches all over Bangladesh. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, having the highest number (31) of churches, has a good representation in the selection of contemporary church samples.

Dhaka being the largest diocese in population and also known as the Archdiocese, five churches are selected from Dhaka city. Dinajpur diocese was developed comprising the entire North Bengal, and after the partition of India in 1952, the parts from the North Bengal were detached from the Dinajpur diocese (Gomes & Gomes, 2013). The selected churches from the Dinajpur diocese are from Dinajpur and Rangpur.

The early history of the Church goes back to 1537 A.D. when there were Catholics in the Portuguese settlements in areas that now form part of the Diocese of Chittagong. The first Churches in Chittagong were set up in 1600 and since then this area has played important role in propagating Christianity. Chittagong became a diocese in 1927, and most of the oldest churches of Bangladesh are situated in this region. Some of the churches are now reconstructed and renovated (Gomes & Gomes, 2013).

The church at Dhanjuri, Dinajpur was first built in1909 but the church was destroyed and rebuilt in 2009 with modern design. This area has Santals more than Bengalis and this church has a reflection of their culture as most of them were low caste Hindus and eventually converted themselves to Christianity.

The church from Boldipukur, Rangpur was built just after the partition in 1947. This area has also a large population of tribal converted Christians, and there is an influence of the local beliefs on the church.

The Mymensingh diocese was founded in 1987 but in the second half of the 16th century, there were already Catholics in different parts in currently known as Mymensingh diocese. The churches of this diocese have developed in a balanced manner before and after 1947. Unlike the other churches from previous diocese, the churches which were built after 1947 has also an influence of the tribal people (Garos) on churches.

Rajshahi diocese is comparatively a new diocese which was developed in 1990. The growth of this diocese started with the help of a Mr. Gabriel Topno; a Christian Munda tribal who migrated from Nagpur, India, and Fr. Francesco Rocca, a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in Milan (PIME) who came from Pakuria (Gomes 36

& Gomes, 2013). The selected cathedral and church from Rajshahi are built in the 21st century, and has resemblances from the churches of West Bengal.

The contemporary Protestant churches in Dhaka is representing all the Protestant churches. They are now constructed in smaller scale and with other related functions like schools, offices, or NGOs. Most of the Protestant churches with own compound and building were built before 1947, so they were not selected here for case studies.

3.4 Selection of the Methodology:

The methodology for this study consists of three steps and they are: literature survey, field survey, and spatial analysis.

3.4.1 Literature Survey:

Literature survey here involves study of published books, articles, magazines, as well as unpublished theses relating to church as religious spaces, development of churches in European countries and in Bangladesh, traditional churches in Bangladesh, and finally to gather knowledge and theories about ‘Space Syntax’ and ‘Justified Access Graph’ or J- Graph.

3.4.2 Field Survey:

To find out and analyze the spatial organizations of the selected churches physical study or fieldwork is the initial level. In fieldwork, all of the 30 churches were studied, and from there related photographs of the churches were taken. Another important work done in this step is to take proper measurements of the interior spaces of the churches to draw the plans for the J-graph analysis.

3.4.3 Spatial Analysis:

Spatial organisation is the reflection of the activities that take place in a space. Churches have various spaces and each of them have their own importance. It is very important to have a successful spatial organisation inside the church. Following the path of Gomes (2014), the analysis in this section in the present study deals chiefly with the “justified graph” which is drawn to clarify the permeability (interconnections between spaces) patterns, and to find properties of ringyness, the degree of route choice from one space to another. In the procedure adopted justified graphs from the outside have been drawn for each church. The basic syntactic values were calculated automatically by using a software 37 application "Jass" developed at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College

London.

Among the various theories and methods which have been developed in the past decades, Space Syntax has established itself in the field of architectural morphology (Steadman, 1983) for placing the basic relation between society and the manmade environment at its foundation (Hillier, 1984). The meaning or definition of space syntax would be, a set of techniques to represent, quantify, and interpret the spatial configuration in buildings and settlements (Hillier, 1985), (Hillier, 1984), (Hillier, 1987), (Steadman, 1983). The aim of space syntax research is to develop the strategies to describe configured inhabited spaces in such a way that their under-lying social logic can be understood (Bandyopadhyay, 2006, p. 924).

A theory which was a simple yet powerful representation, established by the scholars for analytical analysis of plan morphology, was eventually known as the graph theory. This graph theory was first applied to small architectural plans by Levin (1964) in his article ‘use of graphs to decide the optimum layout of the buildings’. It was March and Stedman (1971) who made significant contribuition to the utilizing mathematical concept of graph theory as an instrument for architectural thinking. Hillier and Hanson then took a further step in using this graph theory. They brought its graph techniques into their spatio-social theory, Space Syntax, to measure and evaluate property of the built environment.

The morphological characteristics of a plan layout are analyzed with the help of specific graph named ‘Justified Access Graph’ (Hillier, 1987). This specific graph denotes the penetrability through the space and the depth property of the graph indicates the amount of architectural steps one must pass through to arrive at a specific space in the configuration of a building. But this does not give us a clear conception until there is another further space, through which we will know the position of each space with respect to the third space known as the ‘configuration’.

Hillier and Hanson established that a set of related basic rules of combinations which is capable of generating spatial pattern which can be expressed mathematically. According to Hanson, spatial relations always exist in the spaces where more than one space are linked with one another, and therefore, deal with a way in where a spatial organisation is related together to form a pattern. Hillier and Hanson analyzed the morphological characteristics of a plan with the help of ‘justified access graph’ as the basis of structural

and syntactic analysis.

A graph is a way of drawing any set of relations between elements; therefore any building can be representated by a graph. By incorporating the syntactic structure of each plan into one simple diagram a set of otherwise complex spatial relationships can be more easily understood. According to Hillier, Hanson, and Graham, to any of the two spaces there is a relation created by a ‘gap’ in between them or a space from the outside controls the relations between the selected two interior spaces. It is said here that, the primary configuration of the space originates in the logic of spaces. Figure 3.1, shows an example to understand the relationship between spaces through a connection. There in Figure 3.1 (a), (b), displays a divided cell with two spaces a and b, and they are interconnected. This gap is important for the relationship between the two spaces, which might be called ‘permeability’ between the above mentioned spaces.

A divided cell

(a) (b)

(a), (b) Two possible relations of spaces a and b to the outside, space c. (c), (d), the corresponding justified graphs.

Figure 3.1: Example of justified access graph (Hillier, 1987, p. 363)

In the Figure 3.1 (c), (d), shows two possible relation of the spaces a and b with an outside space c. Now in Figure 3.1(d), it is seen that both the spaces a and b are directly connected with the space c. On the other hand, in Figure 3.1(c) shows a different relationship between the three spaces. It shows that, only the space a is connected to space c, and space b is only accessible from space a. If we analyze both the cases, we will find that the relationship between space a and b changed when another space c is present. In one of the cases, space a controls the accessibilty from c to b; and in another case this does not happen.

Bellal (2007) shows, a space is represented as a circle and lines connected from it represent its links to other spaces. In Figure 3.2, the letters A, B, C, or D represent the space structural dimension. The distribution of different space types can be seen clearly in the justified graph in the following Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Space-Types in a Graph (Bellal, 2007, p. 061:04)

After analyzing the graph shown in Figure 3.2, Bellal (2007) described the graph as follow:

 The A-type spaces are single linked which has only one connection to and from it, which is also dead-end spaces through which no movement to other spaces is possible.  The only B-type space has more than one link, generally it has two connections: one connection is from other spaces and the other is to an A-type space and this type of space does not fall in a ring.

 The C-type spaces have two connections or more and a part of a ring which is a complete roundabout of connected cells  The D-type spaces have three connections or more and placed at intersection point of at least two rings. It can be said that, C- and D-type spaces indicate possible flexibility or choice of movement.  Spaces of A and B-type indicate a more controlled movement, while they single out the passage when moving to and from them.

The justified graph also represents the permeability of the space and that the depth property indicates how many architectural steps one must pass through to arrive at a particular space in the configuration of the house (Bellal, 2007).The analysis of internal structure can reflect social relations underlying the configuration of space (Gomes, 2014, p. 54). For this study, in the justified access graphs, the exterior point, just before entering the church is considered as the root point for measuring the depth and integration. Space syntax analysis for this study will be carried out for measuring integration, depth, and choice of movements between the interior spaces.

3.5 Identification for parameters for methodology:

Unlike any other buildings, churches also have a specific spatial organization which makes the religious and divine environment inside the church. The spaces of the early European churches, such as, narthex, nave, Altar, etc. were sequenced according to their hierarchy (Fletcher, 1920).

To find out the spatial organizations of contemporary local churches, and the changes in the spatial organization of both traditional and contemporary churches, the selected 30 churches were studied because of the differences are high from the traditional local churches.

The first step of configurational analysis is to transcribe each space of the church into the form of an access graph. Each effective space is represented by a point. Doorways and other openings between adjacent spaces and circulation routes are shown by lines linking points. The transcription starts from the exterior of the studied churches which, in some cases are uncovered pavements and others are from stair or lift lobby from where the church is accessible. The exterior point is shown as the red point to differentiate it from the

41 other interior point spaces. Nave, narthex acts as node, distributing access from it to the Altar and aisles. Exterior leads to the narthex which is a transition space and leads to nave, aisles, or verandahs which lead to the Altar. Sacristy is a service space that is linked with the Altar. In some cases this sacristy has a separate external entry for the priest. Justified Access Graph’ will be drawn for all the 30 contemporary local churches selected for case study to clarify the interconnection between spaces and also the choice of route for one space to another or the ringyness in spaces.

According to space syntax theories, the fundamental properties for configurational variables are: (a) Integration, and (b) Depth, and also a way of architecture to carry culture (Gomes, 2014).

(a) Integration:

The degree of ‘integration’, that is reversed value of RRA [real relative asymmetry], can be mathematically measured, which has been proved to be a powerful tool to explain the social dimension of the configuration. A space in the configuration that has the highest degree of integration can be accessed easily and quickly from the other spaces under normal conditions. In contrast, when a space has the lowest degree of integration, it is less accessible due to its topological distance farther away from the others –thus most 1 segregated in the configuration (Gomes, 2015, p. 216). Integration Value = (Hanson, RRA 1998, p. 28). The integration or real relative asymmetry (RRA) value of a space expresses the relative depth of the space from the other spaces in the graph (Hillier, 1987).

Using JASS software a graph will be created and with the other values the Real Relative Asymmetry (RRA) values will be produced for each of the mentioned spaces of that plan. By inversing the RRA values we will find the Integration values.

In Figure 3.3, integration values are produced for a church, where Narthex, Nave, and verandahs have the highest integration value (2.27), and Altar has the lowest integration values (1.15), which means Altar is segregated from the other spaces. The Integration Values help to find the most private or sacred space and the gathering space inside the church.

(b) Depth:

The justified graph represents the permeability of the system and the depth property indicates how many architectural steps one must pass through to arrive at a particular space of any building (Gomes, 2014). The depths of spaces usually indicate the level of interactions of people with the spaces. The depth of spaces in JASS software is produced according to the sequence and hierarchy of spaces. The value for depth for each space indicates the position of themselves in the interior of the studied building. If the depth value of a space is lower it means that the space is situated near the exterior. In case of the example given in Figure: 3.3, the narthex, and verandahs have the lowest depth and Altar has the highest depth value.

J-Graph Spaces Depth Integration Nar 1 2.27 N 2 2.27 V 1 2.27 A 3 1.15 Sac 2 1.72 BT 2 1.37 Legends: Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandahs, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy, BT-Bell Tower Figure 3.3: Example of spatial analysis of a church plan

It is also known that ‘depth’ and ‘rings’ are the main properties of architectural space. As per ringyness or choice of movement in the spaces there are two types of configuration expressed, which are: tree like configuration or ringy configuration (Gomes, 2014). A tree has the minimum number of connections to join the configuration up into a continuous space pattern. Rings add extra permeability, up to a theoretical maximum where every space is connected to every other. This enables us to begin to measure the degree of depth and relative ringyness of a complex, to capture in numbers the kinds of difference we find in architectural objects (Hanson, 1998, p. 27).

When the configuration is ringy it indicates that some of the spaces in the church are interconnected with each other which influence upon the meditating quality of a space. Ringyness also decreases the depth and drops the hierarchy of spaces.

3.6 Analytical Framework:

3.7 Conclusion:

The contemporary Catholic and Protestant local churches are selected from official and published lists. For Catholic churches, most of the cases are chosen from Dhaka city because Dhaka has the maximum numbers of churches constructed after 1947, and the Honorable Archbishop resides here. The other dioceses e.g. Dinajpur, Rajshahi are recently announced dioceses because Christian population increased after a certain period and also the numbers of built churches after 1947 are higher than the numbers of built churches before 1947. On the other hand, Chittagong has the almost same numbers of churches built before and after 1947.

In case of the contemporary Protestant churches, the building style, area, and volume have changed completely than the earlier churches which were constructed during British period. The Protestant churches built in Dhaka city be able to represent the churches built all over Bangladesh.

In the next chapter, at first general descriptions will be discussed for the 30 selected contemporary churches. Afterwards the existing spaces of these churches will elaborately discussed to understand the changes.

CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDIES

4.1 Introduction 4.2 Case Studies 4.3 Components of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh 4.4 Comparative study of the Traditional and Contemporary Churches 4.5 Conclusion

Introduction:

Christianity was introduced in this sub-continent as a result of colonization by the west – the Portuguese, Dutch, French, Armenians and lastly the British. The Portuguese first reached Chittagong in 1534 the first establishment by the Portuguese Augustinian missionaries was in Tejgaon in the year 1616 (Ahmed, 1986, p. 33). The British established their monarchy with the fall of the last Nawab of Bengal, Sirajuddaula, in 1757. Most of the British employees were mainly of the Anglican society. To serve these people Anglican churches were constructed in the 18th century. Dr. William Kerry (Neill, 1985, pp. 187-188), Mr. Powel and Dr. Thomas, who were members of the Baptist Mission, established the first Baptist church in Dinajpur in 1796. These early churches followed a typical layout similar to the European churches with some local influences.

In the later period especially after 1947 when the British left the country church started to be erected following different forms and layouts. Following is the list of the selected contemporary churches from all over Bangladesh.

Table 4.1: Selected case studies with reference numbers

Type of Sl. Ref. Year Names of the Churches Church No. of Est.

1 C1 Holy Rosary Church, Tejgaon, Dhaka 1993

2 C2 St. Lawrence Church, South Kafrul, Dhaka 1985

3 C3 Holy Spirit Church, Tuitaal, Dhaka 1993

4 C4 St. Joseph’s Church, Dharenda, Savar 1992

5 C5 St. Peter’s Church, Dhakua, Mymensingh 1993

6 C6 St. Anthony’s Church, Boxonogor, Dhaka 2005

7 C7 Good Shepherd Cathedral, Dingadoba, Rajshahi 2002 Catholic Churches Catholic

8 C8 Presentation of Our Lord, Sursunipara, Rajshahi 2005

9 C9 Christ, The Savior Church, Boldipukur, Rangpur 1949

10 C10 St. Francis of Assisi Church, Dhanjuri, Dinajpur 2009

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jamalkhan, 11 C11 1955 Chittagong

12 C12 Holy Spirit Chapel, Banani, Dhaka 2002

13 C13 St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Golla, Dhaka 1965

14 C14 St. Christina’s Church, Mohammadpur, Dhaka 1990

15 C15 St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ramna, Dhaka 1956

16 C16 Mary Queen of Apostles’ Church, Mirpur-2, Dhaka 1995

17 C17 St. Augustine’s Church, Mathbari, Gazipur 2013

18 C18 St. John the Baptist’s Church, Tumilia, Gazipur 2011

19 C19 St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagari, Gazipur 2008

20 C20 Church of Holy Family, Doripara, Gazipur 2002

21 P1 St. Andrew’s Church, Mirpur-2, Dhaka 1999

22 P2 Bangladesh Baptist Church, Farmgate, Dhaka 2012

23 P3 Mirpur Baptist Church, Dhaka 1980

24 P4 Mohakhali Baptist Church, Dhaka 2012

St. Thomas’ Church New Centre, New Eskaton 25 P5 1986 Road, Dhaka

Bethel Assemblies of God Church, New Eskaton 26 P6 1975 Road, Dhaka Protestant Churches Protestant 27 P7 Immanuel Baptist Church, Green Road, Dhaka 1986

28 P8 Gethsemane Baptist Church, Mirpur-10, Dhaka 1966

29 P9 Dhaka Central Methodist Church, Mirpur, Dhaka 1997

30 P10 Seventh Day Adventist Church, Mirpur, Dhaka 1971

Case Studies: Case Study 1: C1 Name: Holy Rosary Church Location: Tejgaon, Dhaka Built year: 1993

This new church at Tejgaon, Dhaka is situated just beside the old Holy Rosary Church. In 1952 the number of Christians were 453, then it was increased to 3750 in 1979 and 8000 in 1985. According to recent census the Christians living around the church area are 15,650 (Source: en.banglapedia.org).

This church was built with an unconventional conical form with an area of 1352.04 sq.m. The church has a verandah like Narthex, conical shaped Nave, half circular Altar, and behind the Altar there is a Sacristy.

Figure 4.1: Holy Rosary Church, Tejgaon, Dhaka

Case Study 2: C2 Name: St. Lawrence Church Location: Kafrul, Dhaka Built year: 1985

St. Lawrence church is a small church for a parish named South Kafrul, Dhaka. This church was established in the year 1985.

This church is circular in shape with an area of 175.85 sq.m. This church has no verandah but a quarter circular space surrounding the main entry. The circular walls are surrounded by solid wall with low and high windows.

Figure 4.2: St. Lawrence Church, Kafrul, Dhaka

Case Study 3: C3 Name: Holy Spirit Church Location: Tuitaal, Dhaka Built year: 1993 The old Holy Spirit Church of this area was first built in the year 1914. A new church, built in 1993, replaced the church which was damaged due to natural calamities. Geographically this church is situated on the bank of Ichamoti River.

The church is rectangular in shape and the different spaces are following the traditional layout and sequence. The area of this church is 571.46 sq.m. This rectangular shaped church has Narthex, Nave, Altar, Sacristy, and two verandahs which all are rectangular in shape.

Figure 4.3: Holy Spirit Church, Tuitaal, Dhaka 51

Case Study 4: C4 Name: St. Joseph’s Church Location: Dharenda, Savar Built year: 1992 The old church here was first built in the year 1926. Then in 1992, this church was completely renovated with an area of 490.62 sq.m. A narthex is absent from the entry. The entrance is from the exterior leading towards the nave. There are two verandahs parallel to the nave. The altar is oval in shape and a sacristy is present behind the altar, which has secondary entries into the church.

Figure 4.4: St. Joseph’s Church, Dharenda, Savar

Case Study 5: C5 Name: St. Peter’s Church Location: Dhakua, Mymensingh Built year: 1993 This district, Mymensingh became a diocese in 1987 (Gomes & Gomes, 2013), so most of the churches here are relatively new. This church was built in 1993 in a small interior village named Dhakua in Mymensingh and the area of this church is 155.86 sq.m. The church serves the Garo Christians living in that area.

This church is very simple in structure and design and also pure rectangular in form. The church has brick built walls and concrete columns but the roof is made of corrugated sheets. This church has a narthex which continues on both the sides and runs parallel to the nave. The altar and sacristy are also rectangle in shape and connects with each other. There are secondary entries from both verandahs to the nave of the church.

Figure 4.5: St. Peter’s Church, Dhakua, Mymensingh 53

Case Study 6: C6 Name: St. Anthony’s Church Location: Boxonogor, Dhaka Built year: 2005 St. Anthony’s Church in Boxonogor was first built in 1860. As Christian population increased in this area since then an urge to build a new church arose within the local people. So the new St. Anthony’s Church was built in 2005, not very far from the old one.

This church is rectangle in shape and the area is 583.85 sq.m. A narthex is the first space before entering this church. There are two verandahs which are placed perpendicularly with the narthex and parallel with the nave. The altar is placed in front of the nave. A sacristy and a store room are situated at the both sides of the altar. There are four secondary entries; among them two are from both the verandahs and the other two are from the sacristy and the store.

Figure 4.6: St. Anthony’s Church, Boxonogor, Dhaka 54

Case Study 7: C7 Name: Good Shepherd Cathedral Location: Dingadoba, Rajshahi Built year: 2002 Rajshahi diocese was erected in the year 1990. Before that, Rajshahi was a part of Dinajpur diocese. Most of the Christians of this diocese are converted tribal people (Gomes & Gomes, 2013). In the year 2002 the Cathedral for Rajshahi diocese was built and situated near the Rajshahi city bypass.

This church is rectangular in shape with an area of 1107.83 sq.m. The narthex of this church is very prominent which makes the entry into the church very grand. There are two aisles situated parallel to the nave. The altar, sacristy, confessional room, as well as the bell tower are placed at one end of the church.

Figure 4.7: Good Shepherd Cathedral, Dingadoba, Rajshahi

Case Study 8: C8 Name: Presentation of Our Lord Location: Sursunipara, Rajshahi Built year: 2005 This church is situated near the Kakon Haat rail station of Rajshahi. Most of the followers of Christianity in this area are converted tribal people. This church was built in 2005 to serve this community. This church is rectangle in shape and has an area of 507.46 sq.m. The front verandah is used as the narthex of the church. The nave has two aisles parallel to it. The altar and a U-shaped sacristy is placed at the end of the church.

Figure 4.8: Presentation of Our Lord, Sursunipara, Rajshahi 56

Case Study 9: C9 Name: Christ, the Savior Church Location: Boldipukur, Rangpur Built year: 1949 The churches of Rangpur district are under the Dinajpur diocese. In the middle of 19th century this diocese was a part of the Mission of Krishnagar of West Bengal. In 1952, after the partition from India, the diocese of Dinajpur was detached from the Krishnagar diocese (Gomes & Gomes, 2013). Christ, the Savior Church is situated in a village named Boldipukur of Rangpur, and it was built in 1949 and the area of this church is 363.44 sq.m. Most of the Christian villagers here are Santals, who are converted to Christianity.

This church is square in shape. It has a narthex but the entries from the narthex into the church are off centered. The sacristy is placed beside the altar and has two verandahs parallel to the nave.

Figure 4.9: Christ, the Savior Church, Boldipukur, Rangpur

Case Study 10: C10 Name: St. Francis of Assisi Church Location: Dhanjuri, Dinajpur Built year: 2009 In 1990, the new diocese of Rajshahi was comprised with the Southern territories of Dinajpur diocese.

This old church of Dhanjuri was built in 1909 but it was damaged due to natural causes. So the old church was demolished and a new church was built in that spot in 2009 with an area of 568.23 sq.m. This church is rectangle in shape, has a front verandah used as narthex which leads to nave along with two aisles. The altar and sacristy are placed at the end of the church. There are two secondary entries through the aisles as well as the sacristy into the church.

Figure 4.10: St. Francis of Assisi Church, Dhanjuri, Dinajpur 58

Case Study 11: C11 Name: Church of the Immaculate Conception Location: Jamal Khan, Chittagong Built year: 1955 The Church of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1601 in Jamal Khan area of Chittagong.

The old church was damaged due to natural causes was renovated many times through the years. Finally, it was renovated in the 1955. The area of this church is 414.27 sq.m. The church has a narthex which is continued as a verandah on the one side and parallel to the nave. After entering the nave there is a choir space placed at the mezzanine floor. The bell tower of the church is accessible only from the inside of the church. There is another verandah placed on the other side of the nave.

Figure 4.11: Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jamal Khan, Chittagong 59

Case Study 12: C12 Name: Holy Spirit Chapel Location: Banani, Dhaka Built year: 2002

Holy Spirit Church is situated at Banani Road no. 27. The new church was built in 2002. The church is octagonal in shape, and has an area of 365.78 sq.m. It is surrounded by a single verandah, and a portion of the verandah in front of the main entry of the church is used as the narthex. The nave is also octagonal in shape. The altar is placed at the end of the nave. A sacristy is situated behind the altar and has two secondary entries from the both sides of the verandah.

Figure 4.12: Holy Spirit Chapel, Banani, Dhaka

Case Study 13: C13 Name: St. Francis Xavier’s Church Location: Golla, Dhaka Built year: 1965 According to the inscription placed at the front of the church, this church was first built in 1858 but in a different name. But the church was destroyed twice by cyclone. Finally in 1965 the present church was built in this place.

The church is of a cruciform type plan and has an area of 625.46 sq.m. There is no narthex present at the front of the church. The altar is placed at the intersection, and the nave is continued as transepts on the both sides of the altar. The sacristy and store are situated at the back of the altar. All the sides of the structure have surrounding verandah.

Figure 4.13: St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Golla, Dhaka

Case Study 14: C14 Name: St. Christina’s Church Location: Mohammadpur, Dhaka Built year: 1990 St. Christina’s Church was built in 1990 in Asad Avenue, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. This church is under the Dhaka archdiocese. This building has two floors and the church is situated on the first floor. The church also has a mezzanine floor.

This church is rectangle in shape with an area of 526.20 sq.m. There is a verandah placed before entering the church, which is used as a narthex. The nave has two parallel aisles and the altar at the end. A sacristy is placed behind the altar. There is a mezzanine floor present at the opposite of the altar and that floor is used as the extended narthex of the church.

Figure 4.14: St. Christina’s Church, Mohammadpur, Dhaka

Case Study 15: C15 Name : St. Mary’s Cathedral Location: Kakrail, Dhaka Built year: 1956

St. Mary’s Cathedral was built in 1956 in Kakrail, Dhaka. The area of this cathedral is 664.85 sq.m. The verandah at the front of the church is used as narthex. The nave has two parallel aisles. The altar is on a platform. The sacristy is placed behind the altar. There is a separate baptistery present opposite the main entry of the church, but nowadays it remains unusable.

Figure 4.15: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kakrail, Dhaka

Case Study 16: C16 Name: Mary Queen of Apostles’ Church Location: Mirpur-2, Dhaka Built year: 1995

This church at Mirpur was built in 1995 to serve the followers of Mirpur, Zirani, and EPZ area (Gomes & Gomes, 2013). The church is rectangular in shape and area of this church is 516.37 sq.m. The residence of the priests is upstairs of the church. The church has verandahs surrounding the north, south, and west sides. The front verandah is used as the narthex. The other two verandahs have secondary entries into the church. The altar and sacristy are placed at the other side of the entry. The stair at the end of one of the verandahs leads upstairs to the priests’ residence, and church office.

Figure 4.16: St. Mary Queen of Apostles’ Church, Mirpur-2, Dhaka

Case Study 17: C17 Name: St. Augustine’s Church Location: Mathbari, Gazipur Built year: 2013 This church is situated in Mathbari, Gazipur, not very far from Dhaka city. This mission is under the Dhaka Archdiocese. The old church in this place was built in 1925 (Gomes & Gomes, 2013), but due to damages occurred by natural causes a new church was built in that place in 2013.

This church has an area of 1002.58 sq.m and rectangular in shape. The front verandah is used as the narthex. The verandahs beside both sides of the nave lead towards the bell tower and a small prayer space. The altar is placed at the end of the nave, and the sacristy is placed behind the altar.

Figure 4.17: St. Augustine’s Church, Mathbari, Gazipur 65

Case Study 18: C18 Name: St. John the Baptist Church Location: Tumilia, Gazipur Built year: 2011 St. John the Baptist church was first built in 1844 in Tumilia, Gazipur (Gomes & Gomes, 2013), but after the old church was damaged badly from natural causes the new church was built in 2011.

The church is rectangle in shape with an area of 846.44 sq.m. The U-shaped front verandah is used as a narthex before entering through the main entry of the church towards the nave. There are two aisles parallel to the nave. The altar is placed at the one end of the nave. The sacristy is situated behind the altar. There is also a bell tower present at one end of the sacristy.

Figure 4.18: St. John the Baptist Church, Tumilia, Gazipur

Case Study 19: C19 Name: St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church Location: Nagori, Gazipur Built year: 2008 According to the inscription at the main entrance of St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, it was erected 1663. The Christianity in this area was preached by a local named Antoine de Rozario, later when the Jesuit priests knew about Antoine and the other local Christians, they came to this area for spiritual support and religious guidance (Gomes, 2003).

The new church was built in 2008 with an area of 1158.79 sq.m. This church is fan-shaped. The front verandah is used as the narthex before entering the church and into the nave. The two aisles are parallel to the sides of the naves. The altar placed at one end of the altar is also fan-shaped. The sacristy is placed behind the altar, and there is a bell tower situated at one end of the sacristy.

Figure 4.19: St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori, Gazipur

Case Study 20: C20 Name: Church of Holy Family Location: Doripara, Gazipur Built year: 2002 This church was built in 2002 and the area became a parish on 2012 (Gomes & Gomes, 2013). The area of this church is 742.81 sq.m.

The three sides of the church is surrounded by verandahs. The verandah at the front is used as the narthex. The nave is also rectangle in shape and the altar is placed at one end of the altar. The sacristy is placed behind the altar.

Figure 4.20: Church of Holy Family, Doripara, Gazipur

Case Study 21: P1 Name: St. Andrew’s Church, Church of Bangladesh Location: Mirpur, Dhaka Built year: 1999

This church is under the denomination of Church of Bangladesh. This building has six floors, and the church is situated at the ground floor with an area of 367.82 sq.m. The other floors are the office of “Church of Bangladesh Development Program.” The landing of the building’s staircase is used as a narthex. The entry into the church is through one of the aisles. The nave and the aisles are parallel to each other. The altar is on a platform situated at one end of the nave. The other side of the nave has a sacristy and Pastor’s office.

Figure 4.21: St. Andrew’s Church, Church of Bangladesh, Mirpur, Dhaka 69

Case Study 22: P2 Name: Bangladesh Baptist Church Location: Farmgate, Dhaka Built year: 2012 Bangladesh Baptist Church is situated at Indira Road of West Raja Bazaar. The church is newly built in this area in 2012 on the top floor of a four storied building. The area of this church is 271.92 sq.m. The other floors of this building are used for “William Carey International School.” The lobby of the staircase is used as the narthex before entering the church. The interior has only a nave and an altar at one end.

Figure 4.22: Bangladesh Baptist Church, Farmgate, Dhaka

Case Study 23: P3 Name: Mirpur Baptist Church Location: Mirpur-10, Dhaka Built year: 1980

This is a two-storied building of which the ground floor has a fully functioning school and the first floor is the church with an area of 391.69 sq.m. The entry is directly to the nave of the church after passing the stairs and Narthex is missing at the entry. There are two aisles present which are parallel to the nave. The altar is half circular in shape and placed at the one end of the nave. The pastor’s office of this church is situated beside the altar.

Figure 4.23: Mirpur Baptist Church, Mirpur-10, Dhaka 71

Case Study 24: P4 Name: Mohakhali Baptist Church Location: Mohakhali, Dhaka Built year: 2012 This church was in this area and place since 1980. The four storied building in which the church is situated at the first floor was built in 2012. The church is situated in Mohakhali.

The church is rectangle in shape and has an area of 112.74 sq.m. The stair lobby is used as the narthex of this church. At one side of the narthex the pastor’s office is placed. Inside the church, it only has a nave and an altar. There is a secondary entry as well as a stair from the rear end of the building.

Figure 4.24: Mohakhali Baptist Church 72

Case Study 25: P5 Name: St. Thomas’ Church New Center Location: New Eskaton, Dhaka Built year: 1986 This church is under the Church of Bangladesh denomination. The compound has two buildings and in one of the two storied building the church is situated at the top floor, and the area of this church is 154.48 sq.m. The stair lobby of the building is used as the narthex of the church. Inside the church there is a nave and at the end of the nave the altar is there on a platform. A pastor’s office is situated at one side of the nave which is also the end of the L-shaped narthex.

Figure 4.25: St. Thomas’ Church New Center, New Eskaton, Dhaka

Case Study 26: P6 Name: Bethel Assemblies of God Church Location: New Eskaton, Dhaka Built year: 1975 This church is situated in Dilu Road since 1975. It is a two storied building. This church is situated at the ground floor of the “AG Church School.” The whole building is for school, only one of the rooms is used for church. The church is rectangular in shape with an area of 257.16 sq.m. One of the corridors of the school and the one which passes from the front of the church is used as the narthex. The interior of the church has a nave and an altar.

Figure 4.26: Bethel Assemblies of God Church, New Eskaton, Dhaka

Case Study 27: P7 Name: Immanuel Baptist Church Location: Green Road, Dhaka Built year: 1986 According to the inscription on the entry wall of the church, Reverend Jim Mckinley, who wrote a book on the liberation war of Bangladesh, donated all the money he earned by selling that book to the people of Baptist Mission to build a church. The church is situated at the first floor of a two-storied building and area is 605.91 sq.m. A verandah like stair lobby is used here as the narthex. The entry into the church is through one of the aisles. There are two aisles parallel to the nave. The altar is placed at one end of the nave. There is a small space secured on the altar for the adult baptism in this church.

Figure 4.27: Immanuel Baptist Church, Green Road, Dhaka 75

Case Study 28: P8 Name: Gethsemane Baptist Church Location: Mirpur-10, Dhaka Built year: 1966

This is a protestant church under the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship denomination. This group of protestants is preaching their views in this country since 1919 (Rozario, 2011). The building in which the church is situated is two-storied. The church is located on the first floor of that building with an area of 183.71 sq.m. The landing of the stair is used as the narthex before entering the church. The church has two aisles on both sides of the nave. The altar is placed at one end of the nave.

Figure 4.28: Gethsemane Baptist Church, Mirpur-10, Dhaka

Case Study 29: P9 Name: Gethsemane Baptist Church Location: Mirpur-10, Dhaka Built year: 1966

The church is situated at the top floor of a 5-story building situated near Mirpur Mazaar Road in Dhaka and the area of this church is 416.67 sq.m.

The church is rectangle in shape. The stair lobby is used as the narthex. There are no aisles present inside the church. The nave has the seating arrangements. The altar is placed at the end of the hall acting as a stage in front of the nave. A corridor like place behind the altar is the sacristy.

Figure 4.29: Dhaka Central Methodist Church, Mirpur

Case Study 30: P10 Name: Seventh Day Adventist Church Location: Mirpur-1, Dhaka Built year: 1971

The Protestant denomination known as the Seventh Day Adventists started preaching in this region from 1919 (Rozario, 2011). The church was built in 1971. The rectangle church is placed at one side on the ground floor of the extension part of the school building and the area of the church is 222.21 sq.m. The front porch is used as the narthex of the church. Inside the church there are nave, altar, and pastor’s room.

Figure 4.30: Seventh Day Adventist Church, Mirpur-1, Dhaka

Components of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh:

The church is essentially a gathering place for worship and other congregational activities. When a church building is planned, the congregation must determine what activities are to take place there and what type of facilities are needed. The basic required spaces and functions of a typical traditional church are discussed below: a) Narthex : The covered, single-story space before the nave is assigned as the preparation space before entering the church. b) Nave : The narthex opens to the nave or central hall lighted by the clearstory openings where the main congregation takes place. c) Altar : The Apse was used as ‘Altar’. The Bishop took the central space. The Altar was the place for offerings in front of the apse. A baldachino or ciborium (the canopy over the altar on four columns or posts) was placed over the altar space. The sacristy is added with the altar in the churches of Bangladesh. d) Aisles : On either sides of the nave is separated by two rows of columns, usually half of the width of the nave width and creates the aisles flanking the nave. e) Choir : At the center of the nave is the choir, which became necessary owing to the growth of the rituals. A low screen wall called ‘Cancelli’ or ‘Chancel’ encloses the choir.

Narthex: According to the climatic conditions in this region a verandah like space in front of the building is necessary. So the churches which have a proper narthex is like a verandah. Verandah is an important element for shading and natural air movement for warm-humid climate like Bangladesh. So it has been carefully practiced to use a verandah like narthex in traditional as well as contemporary churches.

The entering church doors should attract attention and extend a welcome. They can be emphasized by use of a color or material. The doors into church should be wide enough to allow passage of people coming in and out.

Table 4.2 shows the present Narthexes of the selected local contemporary churches:

Table 4.2: Description, Percentage of Area, Plan, and Image of Narthexes of case studies

% of Ref. Description Plan and Image Area

 Verandah like space with a width of 4m  Slightly sliding roof and the last point of the roof is 3.66m C1 17% higher from the ground  Has accessibility to the nave, and both verandahs  0.76m higher than ground level

 Width and height are 2.43m and 3.04m respectively  Has accessibility to the nave C2 13% and both aisles  0.76m higher than ground level

 Width is 3m and height is 3.66m; rectangular in shape C3  0.30m higher than ground level 11%  Has accessible to the nave and both verandahs

C4  No Narthex is present 0%

 Verandah like space with a width of 2m and height of 2.43m C5 12%  0.30m higher than ground level  Has accessibility to the nave and both verandahs

 Verandah like space; both width and height are 3.66m C6  0.60m higher than ground level 10%  Has accessibility to the nave, and both verandahs

 Verandah like space with a width of 8.71m and height of 4.23m C7 16%  0.76m higher than ground level  Has accessibility to the nave and both aisles

 Verandah like space with width and height is 3.18m and 3.66m respectively C8 37%  0.46m higher than ground level  Has accessibility to the nave

and both aisles

 Verandah like space with a width is 2.67m and height is C9 3.04m 13%  Has accessibly to the nave and both verandahs

 Verandah like space width and height is 3.04m and 3.66m respectively C10 9%  0.76m higher than ground level  Has accessibility to the nave and both aisles

 Porch like space with a width and height of 11’-2” and 3.04m C11 5%  Has accessibility to the nave and north side verandah Source: Internet

 Verandah like space with a width of 3.04m from the main door to the last step of the stair and the height is 3.04m C12 6%  0.60m higher from the ground  Has accessibility to the nave and it continued with verandah on both sides

C13  No narthex is present 0%

 An enclosed space connected to the stair lobby with a width of C14 9% 4.27m and height of 3.66m  Has accessibility to the nave

 Verandah like space with a width of 4.27m and height of 3.66m  0.08m higher from the ground C15 12%  Has accessibilty to the nave, both aisles as well as the

baptistery on the opposite to the main entry  Verandah like space with a width of 3.30m and height of 3.66m C16 11%  0.60m higher from the ground  Has accessibility to the nave and both the verandahs.

 Verandah like space with a width and height of 3.66m C17  0.60m higher from the ground 9%  Has accessibility to the nave and both verandahs

 U-shaped front verandah with 3.71m width and 3.66m height C18  0.60m higher from the ground 13%  Has accessibility to the nave and both aisles

 Vereandah like space with 3.66m in both width and height C19  0.76m higher from the ground 16%  Has accessibility to the nave and both aisles

 Verandah like space with 3.04m width and 3.66m height C20  0.60m higher from the ground 10%  Has accessibility to the nave and both verandahs

 Stair lobby used for narthex  2.59m wide with 3.04m height P1  0.46m higher from the ground 3%  Has accessibility to an aisles near the entry

 Stair lobby is used as narthex  Width is 3.15m, height is 3.66m P2  Has accessibility to the nave 8% and pastor’s office on the other side of the main entry

P3  No narthex is present 0%

 Stair lobby is used as narthex  1.70m wide and 3.04m in height P4  Has accessibililty to the nave 12% and the pastor’s office on the other side of the main entry into the church

 Stair lobby is used as narthex  1.70m wide and has 3.04m P5 height 23%  Has accessibility to the nave and a verandah

 A corridor is used as the narthex P6  4.50m wide and 3.66m in 25% height  Has accessibility only to the

nave

 The stair and lift lobby is used as narthex  Width is 2.82m and height is P7 10% 3.04m  Has accessibility to one of the aisles

 The small lobby of the stair is used as the narthex P8 4%  2.97m wide narthex  Has accessibilty to the nave

 The stair lobby is used as narthex  4.57m in width and 3.66m in P9 height 4%  Has accessibility to the nave and a class room in front of the stair

 The shaded front porch used as the narthex with a width of P10 10% 2.43m  Has accessibilty to the nave

Findings:

 90% of the studied contemporary churches (Table 4.3) have narthex present before entering the church. The other 10%, do not have narthex. 63% (Catholic and Protestant Churches) use the front verandah and 27% (only Protestant Churches) use the stair or lift lobby as the narthex.

Table 4.3: Number and Percentage of the narthexes in the studied churches

Spaces used as References % Total Narthex Catholic Protestant C1, C2, C3, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, Front Verandah C10, C11, C12, C14, C15, C16, P10 63% C17, C18, C19, C20 90 % P1, P2, P4, P5, P6, Stair lobby 27% P7, P8, P9 Without Narthex C4, C13 P3 10% 10% Grand Total 100% 100%

 Table 4.4 shows that, 60% (18 out of 30) churches has narthexes cover 5% to 15% of areas in relation to the whole areas of the studied churches.

Table 4.4: Calculation of the percentages of the areas of the narthexes of case studies % of Areas of References Total % narthexes Catholic Church Protestant Church Nos. Below 5% C4,C13 P1,P3,P8,P9 6 20% 5% up to 15% C2,C3,C5,C6,C9-C12,C14-C18,C20 P2,P4,P7,P10 18 60% 15% and above C1,C7,C8,C19 P5,P6 6 20% Grand Total 30 100%

Nave:

All the studied local contemporary churches has nave. Because without a nave no church can function even if the space is small or large in volume.

Table 4.5: Description, Percentage of Area, Plan, and Image of Naves of case studies

% of Ref. Description Plan and Image Area

 Length of the side arms are both 24.38m and highest point 27.43m high C1 57%  Accessible to the Altar, and both verandahs  No aisles present

 Has a diameter of 9m and the height is 4m C2 35%  Accessible to the Altar, and both the aisles

 Length and width are 20m and 12.29m respectively, and the height is 4m C3 42%  Accessible to the Altar, and both the verandahs  No aisles present

 Direct entry from the exterior  Length is 20m, width is 12m, and the height is 4m C4 55%  Accessible to the Altar and both the verandahs  No aisles present

 Length and width is 12m and 5m respectively and the height is 3.66m C5 37%  Accessible to the Altar, and both the verandahs  No aisles present  Length and width is 22m and 9m respectively and the height is 4m  Accessible to the Altar, and C6 33% both verandahs  No aisles present  Choir space is situated at one side of the nave  Length is 28.98m, width is 10.06m, and height is 4.88m  Accessible to the Altar, and C7 31% both aisles  Choir space is situated at one side of the nave

 Length is 19.30m, width is 9.68m and the height is 4m C8 41%  Accessible to the Altar, and both aisles

 Length and width is 12.22m and 15.37m respectively and C9 height is 3.66m 59%  Accessible only to the Altar  No aisles present

 Length and width is 22m and 13.39m respectively C10  Accessible to the Altar, and 56% both aisles

 Length is 21.89m, width is 7.39m and height 3.35m C11  Accessible to the Altar, both 33% verandahs, and the bell tower  No aisles present

 Length is 11m and width is 15m and height is 4m  C12 Accessible to the Altar, and 39% both verandahs  No aisles present

 Two transepts are also used as nave  Accessible to the Altar  Direct entry from the exterior  Dimensions: 18.44mX8.89m, C13 26% 10.76mX8.84m, and 7.76X8.84m  Choir space is present at one end  No aisles present

 Length and width are 17.15m and 11m respectively C14  Double heighted space 39%  Accessible to the Altar and both aisles

 Length and width are 20.78m and 10.67m respectively  C15 Accessible to the Altar, and 38% both aisles  Choir space is present at the end of the nave

 Length is 19m and width is 10.21m and the height is 4m C16  Accessible to the Altar, and 37% both verandahs  No aisles present

 Has a length of 26.06m and width of 16.00m and height of 4m  Accessible to the Altar, and C17 47% both verandahs  No aisles present  Choir placed at one end of the nave  Length and width are 27.58m and 10.67m respectively also with a height of 4. 57m C18  Accessible to the Altar, and 39% both aisles  Choir placed at one end of the nave

 Length and width are 25.60m and 29.87m respectively also with a height of 4.57m C19  Accessible to the Altar, and 68% both aisles  Choir placed at one end of the

nave

 Length and width are 27.72m and 11.66m respectively  Accessible to the altar, and C20 both verandahs 46%  No aisles present  Choir placed at one end of the nave

 Length and width are 21.44m and 4.57m respectively and P1 height is 3.04m 28%  Accessible to the Altar, both aisles, and sacristy

 Dimension of the nave is 16.31mX10.59m and the height is 4m P2  Accessible to the Altar 63%  No aisles present  Choir placed at one end of the nave

 Length and width are 20.19m and 8.15m respectively and P3 height is 3.04m 45%  Accessible to the Altar, and both aisles

 Length is 7.62m and width is 7.98m and the height is 3.04m  Accessible to the Altar P4 54%  Choir placed at one end of the nave  No aisles present

 Length and width are 9.21m and 9.83m respectively and height is 3.04m  Accessible to the Altar, and P5 69% sacristy, and the verandah  No aisles present  Choir placed at one end of the nave

 Dimension is 14.63mX9.35m and the height is 3.04m P6 56%  Accessible to the Altar  No Aisles present

 Length is 20.91m and width is 6.54m and the height is 3.66m P7 25%  Accessible to the Altar, and both aisles

 Length and width are 15.47m and 6.11m and height is 3.04m P8 57%  Accessible to the Altar and aisle

 Length is 24.38m, width is 13.11m and height is 4m P9 78%  Accessible to the Altar  No aisles present

 Length and width are 14.15m and 9.14m respectively and the height is 3.35m P10 58%  Accessible to the Altar and pastor’s office  No aisles present

Findings:

 All the churches here have nave in them as Nave is the main congregation area in a church.  Table 4.6 shows the numbers of studied churches with and without the aisles present. It is seen that, 60% of the churches (18 out of 30) do not have aisles and rest 40% of the churches (12 out of 30) have aisles on the both sides of the nave. The aisles also have openings to bring the natural light inside the churches.  All of the naves of the churches studied here have accessibility to the Altar. 89

Table 4.6: Number and Percentage of selected churches with/without aisles

References Specifications Total Percentage Catholic Protestant C2, C7, C8, C10, P1, P3, P7, P8 Nave With aisles C14, C15, C18, C19 12 40%

C1, C3, C4, C5, C6, P2, P4, P5, P6, P9, Nave Without C9, C11, C12, C13, P10 18 60% aisles C16, C17, C20

Grand Total 30 100%

 From Table 4.7, we find that 50% of the studied churches have their naves covering 30% to 50% of areas in relation to the whole areas of the studied churches. The altars of 7 out of 10 Protestant churches cover above 50% of areas of the whole church area. This took place because the studied Protestant churches have less spaces present in relation to the studied Catholic churches and most of the area of a church is nave.

Table 4.7: Calculation of the percentages of the areas of the naves of case studies % of Areas of References Total % naves Catholic Church Protestant Church Nos. Below 30% C13 P1, 79 3 10%

C2,C3,C5-C8,C14- 30% up to 50% P3 15 50% C18,C11,C12,C14-C18,C20

50% and above C1,C4,C9,C10,C19 P2,P4,P5,P6,P8,P9,P10 12 40%

Grand Total 30 100%

Altar: Altar is the most sacred space inside the church. In most of the traditional churches the altars were placed in the west and the entries were from the east. But nowadays we can see that, due to the changes in the shapes of churches there is no specific direction present for the altar. There is no church without an Altar.

Table 4.8 shows the descriptions, plan with images of the altars of the 30 studied churches as well as the percentage of the area covered by the altars. This study shows that, various shapes and sizes are used for the altars according to the shape of the churches.

Table 4.8: Description, Percentage of Area, Plan, and Image of Altars of case studies

% of Ref. Description Plan and Image Area

 0.46m higher than the nave C1  Accessible from the nave and 5% west verandah

 0.30m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave and C2 4% sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave C3 13%  Accessible from the nave and sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave C4 7%  Accessible from the nave and sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave C5  Accessible from the nave and 7% sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave and sacristy C6  A baptismal font is present in 13% north side on a circular platform which is 0’-3” raised than Altar

 0.30m higher than the nave C7 7%  Accessible from the nave, aisles and sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave C8 9%  Accessible from the nave, aisles and sacristy

 Only a step higher than the C9 nave 7%  Accessible from the nave and sacristy

 0.46m higher than the nave C10  Accessible from the nave, 13% aisles, and sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave, C11 18% sacristy and verandah at south side

 0.30m higher than the nave C12  Accessible from the nave and 8% sacristy

 0.46m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave and C13 sacristy 12%  Placed at the center of the cruciform

 0.30m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave and C14 11% sacristy  Double heighted space

 0.15m higher than the nave C15 14%  Accessible from the nave and aisles

 0.30m higher than the nave C16 10%  Accessible from the nave and sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave and C17 sacristy 12%  A baptismal font is present in east side on a platform which is 0.07m lower than Altar

 0.46m higher than the nave C18 7%  Accessible from the nave, aisles, and sacristy

 0.60m higher than the nave C19 6%  Accessible from the nave and sacristy

 0.30m higher than the nave C20 7%  Accessible from the nave and sacristy

 A small ( moveable) platform 0.15m higher than the nave is P1 3% used as an altar  Can be accessed from the nave and aisles as well

 0.46m higher than the nave  Can be accessed from the P2 18% nave

 0.30m higher than the nave P3 7%  Accessible from nave, and pastor’s office

 A platform 0.15m higher than P4 the nave is used here as an 22% altar  Accessible from the nave

 A platform 0.15m higher than P5 4% the nave is used  accessible from the nave

P6  0.46m higher than the nave 18%  Accessible from nave

 0.76m higher than the nave  Accessible from the nave, and P7 aisles as well 16%  A space for baptistery is present there

 0.30m higher than the nave P8 12%  Accessible from the nave

 Accessible from the nave and P9 11% sacristy  0.60m higher than the nave

 0.30m higher than the nave P10  Accessible from the nave, and 9% pastor’s office

Findings:

 Altars are raised from the nave level to increase the importance.  Among the studied 30 churches both Catholic and Protestant, in 28 of the churches (93%) have permanent altars and only 2 (P1, and P5) of them (7%) use a temporary platform as the altar. It is worth mentioning that all of the studied Catholic churches here have permanent and raised area for the altar.

Table 4.9: Connection of Altar with other Spaces

References Connected Spaces Total Percentages Catholic Protestant P2, P4, P5, P6, Altar- Nave 6 20% P8, P9 C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C9, Altar- Nave- C12, C13, C14, C16, P3, P10 15 50% Sacristy/Pastor’s office C17, C19, C20 Altar- Nave- Aisles C15, C18 P1, P7 4 13% Altar- Nave- Verandah C1, C11 2 7% Altar- Nave- Sacristy- C7, C8, C10 3 10% Aisles Grand Total 30 100%

 In all of the studied churches, the Altars have interconnection with some of the other spaces present there. Here in Table 4.10, the connection of Altar with nave, sacristy/pastor’s office are seen in 15 churches which is 50% of the studied churches, among them 13 of them are Catholic and only 2 of them are Protestant churches. The rest of the connection of Altar only with nave in 20% of churches (all Protestant churches), with nave and aisles in 13% of churches, with nave and verandah 7%, then with nave, sacristy, and aisles in 10% of the churches.  Sacristy is present in 73% (22 out of 30) of the studied churches. Sacristy of a church can be accessible not only from the Altar but also from other spaces. 47% of the studied churches have their sacristies accessible from Altar, verandahs, and aisles (14 of 30 churches), 23% of the sacristies of the studied churches have accessibility only from the Altar (7 of 30 churches), and only in 3% (1 of 30 churches) of the studied churches, the sacristy can be accessible from the nave. Table 4.10 shows the connectivity of sacristy with various spaces of the studied churches.

Table 4.10: Accessibility of Sacristy of the studied churches from different spaces References Connected Spaces Total % Total % Catholic Protestant Sacristy- Altar- C1,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8, Verandahs & Aisles C9,C11,C12,C15,C1 14 47% 6, C17,C19,C20 Sacristy- Altar C2,C3,C10,C13,C14, P9 73% C18 7 23% Sacristy-Nave P1 1 3% No Sacristy P2,P3,P4,P5,P6 8 27% 27% ,P7,P8,P10 Grand Total 30 100% 100%

Table 4.11 shows that, altars of the 73% of the cases cover 5% up to 15% area of the whole church area and among them most of the cases are Catholic churches.

Table 4.11: Calculation of the percentages of the areas of the altars of case studies % of Areas of References Total % altars Catholic Church Protestant Church Nos. Below 5% C2 P1,P5 3 10% 5% up to 15% C1,C3-C10, C12-C20 P3,P8,P9,P10 22 73% 15% and above C11 P2,P4,P6,P7 5 17% Grand Total 30 100%

Aisles:

In case of the studied contemporary churches 40% of the studied churches have aisles present, from which 27% churches are Catholic, and the rest 13% is Protestant churches. Most of the studied churches here, which is 60% of the studied churches do not have aisles (Table 4.12).

In case of the studied 60% (12 out of 20) of the Catholic churches, those do not have aisles, have verandahs parallel to the nave. But in all the 10 Protestant churches studied here do not have verandahs.

Table 4.12: Numbers and Percentages of studied churches with and without aisles

With Aisles Without aisles Type References Nos. % References Nos. % C2, C7, C8, C10, C1, C3, C4, C5, C6, C9, Catholic C14, C15, C18, C19 8 27% C11, C12, C13, C16, 12 40% C17, C20 Protestant P1, P3, P7, P8 4 13% P2, P4, P5, P6, P9, P10 6 20% Total 12 40% Total 18 60%

Table 4.13: Plans and Images of some present aisles of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image

C2 C7

C8 C10

C18 C19

P1 P3

Choir:

From the studied contemporary churches only 1 (3%) of the churches (Church of the Immaculate Conception, Chittagong) has a separate space for choir. The rest have the choir spaces between other spaces. 17 out of 30 churches (57%) have their choirs placed at the end of the nave, in front of the altar. 5 churches out of 30 (17%) have it at one end of the any one of the aisles. In 4 of the Protestant churches (13%) have choir placed at one side of the altar. 3 of the churches (10%) do not have any specific space to place the choir (Table 4.14).

Table 4.14: Placement and Percentage of the Choir space of the studied churches

References Specifications Total % Catholic Protestant C1, C3, C4, C6, C7, End of the nave C12, C13, C15, C16, P2, P4, P5, P10 17 57% C17, C18, C19, C20 End of the aisles C2, C10, C14 P1, P3 5 17% With the altar P6, P7, P8, P9 4 13% Separate space C11 1 3% No Specific space C5, C8, C9 3 10% Grand Total 30 100%

Following are some of the choir spaces present in various places in the studied churches.

Table 4.15: Plans and Images of some choir spaces of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image

C1 C14

Choir at end of the Choir at end of Aisle Nave

C11 P9

Separate Choir space Choir with the Altar

Verandahs:

These spaces are actually present outside the churches of this continent because of the climatic conditions of this geographical area. Verandahs actually surround the longer axes of the churches to bring the sunlight properly inside and to save the church from rainwater.

Here the verandahs are mostly connected with the narthex, nave, sacristy, and store. 18 of the 30 churches (60%) do not have verandahs. The rest 12 churches which is 40%, have verandahs in north-south, east-west, north-south-west, and north- east sides (Table 4.16).

Table 4.16: Specifications and orientations of the studied churches

References Tot Specification Orientation % Catholic Protestant al C4, C6, C9, C11, North-South 7 23% C16, C17, C20 With East- West C3, C5, C12 3 10% Verandahs North-South-West C13 1 3% North-East C1 1 3% C2, C7, C8, C10, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, No Verandahs C14, C15, C18, P6, P7, P8, P9, 18 60% C19 P10 Grand Total 30 100%

Following are some of the present verandahs in the studied churches.

Table 4.17: Plans and Images of some of the present verandahs of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image

C1 C9

Verandahs at Verandahs at North- North-East South

C12 C13

Verandahs at North- South-East-West Verandahs at East-West

Confessional Room:

From the study we can see that there are two types of confessional spaces present at the studied churches, such as, separate room for confession, with portable confessional stands or room present only at the Catholic churches. Only 2 of the 30 studied churches (7%) have separate room for confession with confessional stands. Other 18 out of 30 churches (60%) do not have separate rooms for confession but portable confessional stands are placed at various sides of nave, aisles, and altar.

Table 4.18: Characteristics of the confessional space in contemporary churches

References Characteristics Total % Catholic Protestant Separate Room C5, C7 2 7% C1, C2, C3, C4, C6, C8, C9, No separate C10, C11, C12, C13, C14, 18 60% room/ space C15, C16, C17, C18, C19, C20 Space totally P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, 10 33% absent P6, P7, P8, P9, P10 Grand Total 30 100%

Following are some of the present confessional rooms in the studied churches.

Table 4.19: Plans and Images of some of the present confessional spaces of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image Separate

C5 C7

Separate

Confessional Room Confessional Room

C6 C17

No Separate No Separate Confessional Room Confessional Room

100

Baptistery:

Only one of the studied churches (C15) have separate room known as Baptistery outside the church which is currently not in use.

There are baptismal font present in 3 churches (10%) at one side of the altar. 26 of the 30 churches (87%) churches do not any baptistery nor baptismal font.

Due to lack of spaces, the baptism rituals for the Protestants cannot happen inside the church, unlike, infant baptism. Only one of the Protestant churches (P7) has a font present on the Altar.

Table 4.20: Type of space present for Baptism in the studied churches

References Specifications Total % Catholic Protestant Separate C15 1 3% Space Baptismal Font C6, C17 P7 3 10% C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C7, C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, Space absent 26 87% C13, C14, C16, C18, C19, P6, P8, P9, P10 C20 Grand Total 30 100%

Following are the baptistery and the baptismal fonts present in various places in the studied churches:

Table 4.21: Plans and Images of some of the present baptismal spaces of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image

Baptismal Font

C6 C15

beside Altar Separate Baptistery

C17 P7

Baptismal Font in Baptismal Font on front Altar the Altar 101

Bell Tower:

From the studied churches 20% have their bell towers connected with the main church building and can be accessible from the church. On the other hand, 47% have their bell towers placed outside the main church building. Remaining 33% churches do not have any bell towers or space for church bells (Table 4.22).

Table 4.22: Positions and Specifications of bell towers

References Specifications Total % Catholic Protestant Outside the C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C8, C10, 14 47% Church C12, C13, C14, C15, C16, C20 Connected with C7, C9, C11, C17, C18, C19 6 20% the Church P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, Space absent 10 33% P6, P7, P8, P9, P10 Grand Total 30 100%

Following are the bell towers present in various places in the studied churches:

Table 4.23: Plans and Images of some of the present bell towers of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image

C7 C9

Connected with Outside of church church

C11 C17

Connected with Connected with church church

C18 C19

Connected with Connected with

church church 102

Pastor’s Office:

This office is a space where people come to visit or to talk to the priests or pastors outside of the prayer times. In catholic churches, priests have visiting hours when the followers can come here to talk to the priests.

Among the 30 studied churches 80% of them have pastor’s offices situated outside the church and 20% which all are Protestant churches, have the pastor’s office inside the church.

All of the studied Catholic churches (20 of them) have their pastor’s or priest’s offices outside the main church building. It is common in the Catholic churches to have the priest’s office outside the church and without any functional connectivity.

Table 4.24: Positions and placements of the pastor’s office References Specifications Total % Catholic Protestant C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, Outside the C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, C13, P6, P7, P8, P9 24 80% Church C14, C15, C16, C17, C18, C19, C20 P1, P2, P3, P4, Inside the Church 6 20% P5, P10 Grand Total 30 100%

Following are the pastor’s offices present in various places in the studied churches:

Table 4.25: Plans and Images of some of the present pastors’ offices of the case studies

Ref. Plan and Image Ref. Plan and Image

P1 P3

P5 P10

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Comparative study of the Traditional and Contemporary churches:

From the plans of the Early European churches and the traditional local churches there were some similarities seen. The hierarchy and the sequences of the spaces in the churches were seen from the analysis of the plans. The common components which were seen in the churches of the three periods are narthex, nave, aisles, and altar.

a) Narthex: In Early European churches narthex was an interior space enclosed in all three sides. This space was like a corridor which was used as a preparation space before entering the church. The narthex is connected with the aisles on the both sides and with the nave in front.

In case of the traditional local churches, a front verandah is used as the narthex. This space is an exterior space, and the length of the space is usually the same as the width of the main church building. As the narthex is the front verandah, so the three sides of this space are open.

The contemporary churches the narthex is also the front verandah with three sides open. The front verandahs are used as the narthexes of the contemporary churches.

b) Nave: In early European churches naves were linear and facing the Altar. In most cases the nave was in east-west direction. The naves of the traditional churches were quite similar with the early European churches. In the cases of the contemporary local churches, the naves of the churches are built like an auditorium. Naves of these contemporary churches are not focused towards any specific direction like the early European churches.

c) Aisles: Most of the early European churches have double aisles in both sides of the nave. In this period aisles were used to bring the natural diffused light inside the church to create a mystical environment. The aisles of the traditional local churches were used for the same reasons as early European churches. The auditorium like contemporary churches have cease this specific space called aisles. In the contemporary churches the aisles are also placed parallel to the nave but they have connection from the outside as well as with narthex, nave, and in some cases sacristy. In some cases the aisles disappeared and nave became of different shapes. In this study, the churches which do not have verandahs, have aisles present in them.

104 d) Altar: In early European churches Altar is the most decorative and separated space than the other spaces. It was surrounded by decorative elements to maintain its importance. The Early local churches have some similarities with early European churches in case of specify the Altar. The contemporary local churches, the Altars have raised levels. In this study, it is found that, most of the churches have their Altars interconnected with other spaces, like nave, aisles, etc.

Table 4.26: Comparative study of Early European, Traditional, and Contemporary local churches

Early European Contemporary Local Traditional Local Church Church Church

Plan

Narthex

Nave

Altar

Aisles

105

Conclusion:

The church is a very important gathering space for worship, prayer, and other congregational activities for the Christians, the believers and followers of Jesus Christ (Gomes, 2003). So the main factor of a plan of church is to develop the relationship between the congregation and the area selected for center for the worship and prayer action (Bental & Bental, 1990).

The narthex, nave, altar, choir, aisles are found in both Catholic and Protestant churches. The differences between the churches of the both denominations start with the presence or absence of the space for confessional space and baptistery. In case of the confessional space, the Catholic churches have separate rooms or removable confessional stands to perform the ritual. On the other hand, the Protestant churches do not have any space for confession because the Protestants confess their sins directly towards God individually. And for baptistery, the Catholic churches have separate baptistery as well as fonts in some churches, others perform the ritual in front of the altar. The Protestants also perform the baptism twice (once after some days of the birth of a child and later at the age of 15) ritual in front of the altar but in case adult baptism, they use a tub as Jesus was baptized at the age of 30 by St. John the Baptist at the bank of a river. The bell tower and verandahs are completely absent from the Protestant churches. As the Protestant churches happen to be present at the top floor of buildings with other surrounding functions they lack these spaces.

There are mainly ten components of contemporary local churches found here and they are narthex, nave, Altar, aisles, sacristy, verandahs, confessional room, baptistery or baptismal font, bell tower, and pastor’s office. These spaces can be divided into two types: a) Function holding spaces: nave, aisles, Altar, sacristy b) Transition spaces: narthex, verandah

Among the functional spaces, nave, and aisles hold the congregation and which are gathering spaces. Altar is the offering sacred space where priest direct the mass and the Holy rituals of the Christians. The sacristy is a storage as well as a preparation space for the priests before starting the mass.

Altar and nave creates the spiritual quality of space in the church. Altar has direct connection with nave, aisles, sacristy, and pastor’s office. Too many connectivity of the Altar with various spaces sometimes lose the importance of the Altar. In the spatial analysis the integration of Altar will be analyzed to understand the role of this space using J-Graph. 106

CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL ORGANISATION

5.1 Introduction 5.2 General Configurational Properties of Local Traditional Churches 5.3 General Configurational Properties of the Contemporary Churches 5.3.1 Choice of Movement 5.3.2 Spatial Analysis considering Depth 5.3.3 Spatial Analysis considering Integration 5.4 Discussion

107

5.1 Introduction:

In the built environment an order of the space is created and according to Hillier and Hanson, this ordering of space in building is really about the ordering of relations between people (Hillier & Hanson, 1984, pp. 1-2). Space Syntax, which is an approach developed for analysing spatial configurations, helps to explore this ordering of space. In this study Justified Permeability Graph (JPG) is used for analysing the nature of permeability in the Church by extracting the varieties of configurations which are present in the contemporary churches. The configurational properties, such as, choice of movement, depth, and integration will be discussed with the references with J-Graphs of the studied contemporary churches of Bangladesh.

The first step of the configurational analysis is to find the hierarchy of spaces with depth analysis as well as the location of meditational spaces and public congregation spaces.

The second step is the analysis of the Integration of the spaces of the studied churches, to find out which spaces are integrated and which ones are segregated. In case of the churches, congregation spaces used by the people are the most integrated spaces and have easy accessibility from the other spaces while the segregated spaces do not have easy access from the other spaces.

The third step leads to finding the ‘ringyness’ or Choice of Movement. This will help to determine the connectivity of spaces or which spaces are connected more. The more the spaces have ringy configurations the more the spaces are integrated. This quality can influence upon the meditation quality of the churches.

5.2 General Configurational Properties of Local Traditional Churches:

In a study of early churches in Bangladesh Gomes (2003) it was seen that churches were a foreign building type here and they were also built by foreign traders and missionaries. It is seen specially that, the early churches in Bangladesh are composed of single spaces instead of aisles and nave being separated volumtrically.

From the study of Gomes (2003) one of the traditional local churches named St. Nicholas Tolentino (1663) was selected here to find out the general configurations of local traditional churches. This traditional church will be analysed with ‘JASS’ software to find out the choice of movement, depths of spaces as well as integrations of spaces. This help us to understand the differences in spatial organisation between traditional and contemporary local churches.

108

Name: St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church Location: Nagori, Gazipur Built year: 1663 (Inscribed on the wall) 1888 (Existing construction)

The area of this traditional church is 492.54 sq.m. This church is composed of three parts: Figure 5.1: Exterior view of (Old) St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church 1) Preparation space: Narthex 2) Congregational body: Nave and 3) Sacred spaces: Altar

1) Narthex: This church has a verandah covered by a flat roof as the narthex instead of the traditional narthex. Due to the climatic conditions, the verandah and the whole church is raised on a plinth from the ground level (Gomes, 2003).

2) Nave: The verandah like narthex leads to the main body directly with doors to the nave of 31.34m length and 11.07m width. There is the evidence of two turret-like structures flanking the entry doors, bearing resemblance with the layout of the Tejgaon church (which was probably destroyed in the earthquake of 1897 and was not reconstructed). This corner space probably held staircases or similar elements, which does not exist today but can be assumed from its imposing character on the main body (Gomes, 2003, p. 82).

3) The Altar: 6.15m x7.62m altar space is separated from the nave by an arched way (Gomes, 2003).

J-Graph

Source for plan: (Gomes, 2003) Legends: Ex- Exterior, Nar- Narthex, N- Nave, A- Altar, Ai- Aisle, Sac- Sacristy Figure 5.2: Plan and J-Graph of a local traditional church

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In Figure 5.2, the J-graph of the (old) St. Nicholas Tolentino Church is shown. There are 7 numbers of spaces present in this church.

Table 5.1: Spatial Characteristics of the old St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori

No. of No. of Space Link Max. Ring Name of the Church Configuration Spaces Links Ratio (SLR) Depth Location St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Old) 7 8 1.29 Ringy 4 Nar-N-Ai

The space link ratio for this traditional church is 1.29, which proves that it has a ‘ringy’ configuration. The maximum depth in this spatial organisation is 4 (Table 5.1). The ring is formed near the entrance with narthex, nave, and aisles. The altar is absent in this ring.

Table 5.2 shows the depths for each of the spaces found in the selected traditional church. Minimum depth (1.00) is seen in narthex, which is placed near entry and the maximum depth (4.00) is found in sacristy, which is the last space of this church. The depth found for altar is 3.00. From the order of depths it is seen that, the sequence of spaces is well maintained.

Table 5.2: Depths of Space with Order of Depths of the old St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori

Depths Type of Churches Narthex Nave Aisles Aisles Altar Sacristy

St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Old) 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 3.00 4.00

Order of Depth for Traditional local churches: Nar< N, Ai< A< Sac

The integration of spaces shows that, the most integrated space of this traditional church is nave with the integration value of 2.56, and the most segregated space is the sacristy with the integration value of 0.51 (Table 5.3).

Table 5.3: Integration of Space with Order of Integration of the old St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church, Nagori

Name of the Church Names of Spaces MI Ex Nar N Ai Ai A Sac St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Old) 1.21 0.64 1.69 2.56 1.02 1.02 1.02 0.51

Order of Integration for Traditional local churches:

N (2.56)> Nar (1.69)> A (1.02), Ai (1.02)> Ex (0.64)>Sac (0.51)

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5.3 General Configurational Properties of the Contemporary Churches:

Thirty contemporary churches in Bangladesh were analyzed syntactically. Floor plans of these churches were drawn during site observation and field visit. To understand the spatial properties of these churches the graphs were studied considering the number of spaces and their morphological characteristics.

From the physical study of these churches it was seen that spaces in the churches vary according to their size. Maximum ten numbers of spaces constitute the spatial organisation of the churches. Narthex, Nave, Aisles, Verandahs, Altar, Sacristy, Baptismal Font, Confession Space, and Bell Tower are the typical spaces in these churches. Catholic churches are composed of more spaces than the Protestant churches. 63% of the total studied churches have spaces above seven numbers. Only 10% Catholic churches have nine numbers of spaces.13% Catholic churches and 3% Protestant churches are of eight numbers of spaces. 37% catholic churches are of seven numbers of spaces (Table 5.4).

37% of the studied churches have 4 to 6 numbers of spaces. 7% Catholic and 7% Protestant churches have six numbers of spaces (Narthex, Nave, Aisles, Altar, Sacristy, and Baptismal Font). Most of the Protestant churches are simple and composed of 5 numbers of spaces. Narthex, Nave, Aisles, Altar, and pastor’s office are the common spaces in these churches. 20% Protestant churches are composed of five numbers of spaces and only 3% of Protestant churches have four numbers of spaces (shown in Table 5.4). As of Figure 5.4, four churches with 5 numbers of spaces (P2, P4, P5, and P9) of them have tree-like configuration where narthex leads the ways towards the nave, aisles, and Altar.

Table 5.4: Number of Spaces in the Churches

No of Spaces Catholic Church Protestant Church Total 4 3% 3% 5 20% 20% 6 7% 7% 14% 7 37% 37% 8 13% 3% 16% 9 10% 10% Grand Total 100%

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Among the function spaces, nave, and aisles hold the congregation and Altar is the offering sacred space. Altar and nave creates the spiritual quality of space in the church. The most common spaces which are present in almost all the churches are: Narthex, Nave, Aisles, Verandahs, Altar, and Sacristy.

Some spaces are found very rarely in the contemporary churches in Bangladesh. For example, Baptistery is a separate building to contain a font for the baptismal ceremony (Gomes, 2003, p. 170). Baptistery is present in only one of the studied cases (C15: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kakrail, Dhaka), which is not in use at present. This cathedral has a separate building to perform infant baptism but due to the usage and volume of that building the ritual now takes place near or in front of the altar like the other churches. The cases C6 (St. Anthony’s Church, Boxonogor), and C17 (St. Augustine’s Church, Mathbari, Gazipur) have small font for baptism at one side of the altar. The Catholic churches have separate baptistery as well as fonts in some churches. The Protestants also perform the baptism twice (once after some days of the birth of a child and later at the age of 15) ritual in front of the altar but in case adult baptism, they use a tub as Jesus was baptized at the age of 30 by St. John the Baptist at the bank of a river.

It is also seen that, a separate space for Choir is only present in C11 (The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jamal Khan, Chittagong). This space is situated at a mezzanine floor. All the other selected churches have choir space at a side of naves and aisles. This space also went missing as a separate space of a church.

In case of the Confessional Space, the Catholic churches have separate rooms or removable confessional stands to perform the ritual. On the other hand, the Protestant churches do not have any space for confession because the Protestants confess their sins directly towards God individually.

The Bell Tower and verandahs are completely absent in the Protestant churches.

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Ringy Configuration Ringy

Legends: Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandah, Ai-Aisle, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy,PO-Pastor’s Office

Figure 5.3: J-Graph of the churches with 7 to 8 numbers of spaces

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Tree like Configuration Tree like

Ringy Configuration Ringy

Legends: Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandah, Ai-Aisle, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy,PO-Pastor’s Office

Figure 5.4: J-Graph of the churches with 4 to 6 numbers of spaces

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5.3.1 Choice of Movement:

The choice of movement is the configurational property of spaces by which we can find out the alternative routes from one space to another. Spaces can be distinguished from each other conferring to whether or not they have rings, the amount of rings, and which rings they lie on (Hillier, 1987).

Ringyness is such a measure which strongly influences the depth of the spatial organisations and determines the permeability of a space. It is inevitable that, the spaces with rings in its organisation ought to be shallower than the straight or tree like organisation. Ringyness in the spaces can be determined by the space link ratio of that specific configuration. Space Link Ratio (SLR) describes a relationship between link and spaces to determine degree of ringyness. The space link ratio is the number of links plus one, over the number of the spaces. A tree will therefore have a value of 1 and values above 1 indicate the degree of ‘ringyness’ in the complex (Gomes, 2014, p. 209).

After analyzing the data of Table 5.5 we can see that, only 17% of configurations are tree like while 83% (66%+17%) has rings in their configuration. All the studied Catholic contemporary churches have rings present in the configurations.

Table 5.5: Type of Churches with different Configurations

Type Catholic Church Protestant Church Total Percentage Ringy 66% 17% 83% Tree like 0 17% 17% Total 66% 34% 100% The rings between the spaces are situated in various places. Some of the churches have more than one ring. All the studied Catholic churches have ringyness, and on the other hand, tree like configurations are present in half of the Protestant churches because those churches have less spaces than the others.

Table 5.6: Numbers of studied churches with rings near entrance

Type Catholic Church Protestant Church Total Nos. Total % Rings near Entrance C1-C20 P1, P10 22 73% No rings near Entrance P2-P9 8 27% Grand Total 30 100% Table 5.6 shows that, 73% of the studied churches (Catholic and Protestant) have rings formed near the entrance. In these 22 cases (C1 to C20, P1, and P10), the rings are formed with the narthex, nave, as well as the verandahs and aisles. The other 27% does not have rings at the entry location. 115

Table 5.7: Spatial Characteristics of studied local contemporary churches Space No. No. of Link Max. Ref. of Configuration Ring Location Spaces Ratio Depth Links (SLR) C1 7 9 1.43 Ringy 3 Narthex-Nave- Verandah Altar-Nave-Verandah Altar-Sacristy-Nave- C2 7 9 1.43 Ringy 2 Narthex-Nave-Aisles Narthex-Exterior C3 7 9 1.43 Ringy 2 Narthex- Nave- Verandah Altar- Sacristy-Exterior Nave-Altar- Sacristy- C4 6 9 1.67 Ringy 2 Exterior- Nave- Verandah Verandah Exterior-Narthex-Nave- Sacristy-Confessional C5 8 14 1.88 Ringy 3 Altar-Sacristy Room-Verandah Altar-Sacristy-Nave- C6 8 11 1.50 Ringy 3 Narthex-Nave-Verandah Verandah Exterior-Narthex-Aisle- Narthex-Nave-Aisle- C7 9 12 1.86 Ringy 3 Confessional Room Altar-Sacristy Exterior-Narthex-Nave- Exterior-Aisle-Nave- C8 7 11 1.71 Ringy 2 Aisle Altar-Sacristy C9 7 7 1.14 Ringy 3 Narthex- Nave-Altar-Sacristy-Verandah Exterior-Narthex-Nave- Exterior-Narthex-Aisle C10 7 9 1.43 Ringy 2 Altar-Sacristy Exterior-Narthex-Nave- Exterior-Verandah-Altar- C11 9 12 1.44 Ringy 4 Verandah-Sacristy Sacristy Altar-Sacristy-Nave- C12 7 10 1.57 Ringy 3 Narthex-Nave-Verandah Verandah C13 6 9 1.67 Ringy 2 Exterior-Verandah-Nave-Altar-Sacristy C14 7 7 1.14 Ringy 3 Exterior-Narthex-Nave-Altar-Sacristy C15 8 11 1.50 Ringy 3 Narthex-Nave-Aisle Aisle-Nave-Altar C16 7 8 1.29 Ringy 4 Narthex-Nave-Verandah Exterior- Narthex- Narthex- C17 8 14 1.88 Ringy 3 Narthex- Verandah-Nave- Verandah-Nave- Verandah Bell Tower Altar-Sacristy Exterior-Verandah- Narthex-Nave-Altar- C18 8 13 1.75 Ringy 2 Narthex-Sacristy Verandah Exterior-Aisle-Narthex- Aisle-Narthex-Nave- C19 7 12 1.86 Ringy 2 Sacristy Altar-Sacristy Exterior-Narthex-Nave- Exterior-Verandah- C20 7 10 1.57 Ringy 3 Verandah Nave-Altar-Sacristy P1 8 8 1.13 Ringy 3 Exterior-Narthex-Aisle-Nave-Sacristy P2 5 4 1.00 Tree 3 P3 6 7 1.33 Ringy 3 Nave- Aisles- Altar- Pastor’s Office P4 5 4 1.00 Tree 3 P5 5 4 1.00 Tree 4 P6 4 3 1.00 Tree 3 P7 6 7 1.33 Ringy 4 Aisle-Nave-Altar P8 5 5 1.20 Ringy 3 Nave-Aisle -Altar P9 5 4 1.00 Tree 4 Exterior-Narthex-Nave- Pastor’s Office-Nave- P10 5 6 1.40 Ringy 2 Pastor’s Office Altar

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76% of the studied churches (both Catholic and Protestant) have rings located in Altar and in 7% churches Altar is not in rings with the other spaces (Table 5.8). Altar is the most sacred space in the church. Altar cannot be accessed by everybody because of its importance. This space is segregated from any other congregational spaces.

Table 5.8: Numbers and Percentages of Specifications of Altars

References Total Configurations Type Total % Percentage Catholic Protestants C1-C7,C8- P3,P7,P8, Altar in Rings 23 76% C15,C17-C20 P10 Ringy 83% Altar outside C16 P1 2 7% Rings P2,P4,P5, Tree-like 5 17% 17% P6, P9

Grand Total 100%

Catholic Protestants

Altar in RingsAltar

Altar outsideAltar Rings

Legends: Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandah, Ai-Aisle, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy,PO-Pastor’s Office Figure 5.5: Ringyness of Altars in selected Catholic and Protestant churches

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5.3.2 Spatial Analysis considering Depth:

The justified graphs in these cases represents the permeability of the spatial organisation and this property ‘depth’ specifies the amount of architectural steps one must pass through to reach at a specific space in the configuration of the churches (Gomes, 2014). Each of the graphs started with a point called ‘exterior’. A space which is at ‘depth 1’ from the exterior, it is directly accessible to it. At ‘depth 2’ it is necessary to pass through one intervening space in order to move from one to the other. In the justified graphs, therefore, depth from one space to another will show as height when the first space is used as the root (Hillier, 1987, p. 364).

Depths of different spaces of the studied churches are calculated and shown in Table 5.10 with the order of depths in the spaces and in Table 5.9 the percentages of depths of each of the spaces found in the studied churches are calculated and shown.

Table 5.9: Depths of different spaces in the studied churches

Names of Spaces Depth 1 Depth 2 Depth 3 Depth 4 Not present Narthex 90% 10% Nave 7% 90% 3% Verandahs 17% 23% 60% Aisles 13% 20% 7% 60% Altar 33% 67% Sacristy 30% 10% 20% 10% 30% Confessional Room 3% 3% 94% Choir 3% 97% Baptistery 3% 97% Bell Tower 10% 3% 87% Pastor’s Office 3% 10% 10% 77% Narthex in 90% of the churches is situated at depth 1 and can be accessed very easily from the exterior space. Nave acts as a congregation space which is located at depth 2 in 90% of the studied churches. Altar, in 67% studied cases is situated in depth 3(Table 5.9). This space is considered the most sacred and holy space than the other spaces in the church.

Functionally sacristy is a service space of the church situated away from the narthex and behind or beside the Altar without any accessibility from other spaces. In some of the studied cases (30%), sacristy has a second entry which gives the priest direct access, as a result sacristy comes at depth 01. Rest of the cases have sacristy located far away from the narthex. 118

Table 5.10: Depths of Space with Order of Depths

Names of the Spaces Ref. MD Order of Depths

Type Nar N V Ai A Sac C Ch B BT PO C1 1 2 2 3 3 2.20 Nar< N, V< A< Sac C2 1 2 2 2 1 1.60 Nar, Sac< N, Ai, A C3 1 2 2 3 4 2.40 Nar, V< N< A< Sac C4 1 1 2 3 1.50 N, V< A, Sac C5 1 2 1 3 2 2 1.83 Nar, V< N, Sac, C< A C6 1 2 2 3 3 2.20 Nar< N, V< A, Sac Nar, C< N, Ai, BT< A<

C7 1 2 2 3 4 1 2 2.14 Sac C8 1 2 1 2 1 1.40 Nar, Ai, Sac

Churches C10 1 2 1 2 1 1.40 Nar, Ai, Sac< N, A C11 1 2 2 2 1 4 3 2.14 Nar, Sac< N, V, A< Ch C12 1 2 2 3 3 2.20 Nar< N, V< A, Sac

Catholic C13 1 1 2 1 1.25 N, V, Sac< A C14 1 2 3 2 1 1.80 Nar, Sac< N, A< Ai C15 1 2 2 3 3 2 2.17 Nar< N, V, B< A, Sac C16 1 2 2 3 4 2.40 Nar< N, V< A< Sac C17 1 2 1 3 2 2 1.83 Nar, V< N, Sac, BT< A C18 1 2 1 2 1 2 1.50 Nar, Ai, Sac< N, A,BT C19 1 2 1 2 1 1.40 Nar, Ai, Sac< N, A C20 1 2 1 3 2 1.80 Nar, V

P3 1 2 2 3 2.00 N< Ai, A< PO P4 1 2 3 2 2.00 Nar< N, PO< A P5 1 2 3 4 2.50 Nar< N< A< PO P6 1 2 3 2.00 Nar< N< A P7 1 3 2 3 2.25 Nar< Ai< N, A P8 1 2 3 3 2.25 Nar< N< Ai, A

Protestant Churches P9 1 2 3 4 2.50 Nar, N< A< PO P10 1 2 2 1 1.50 Nar, PO< N, A

Mean 1.00 2.00 2.25 2.80 1.00 2.57 Nar, Sac< N< Ai< PO< A

Legends: Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandah, Ai-Aisle, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy, C- Confessional Room, Ch- Choir, B- Baptistery, BT- Bell Tower, PO-Pastor’s Office

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From analyzing the depths of the different spaces, following four types of spaces are found according to the activities performed in it:

a) Preparation Space (Narthex): at Depth 01 (90%) b) Congregational Space (Nave, and Aisles): at Depth 02 (90%) c) Sacred Space (Altar): at Depth 03 (67%) and at Depth 02 (33%) d) Service Spaces (Pastor’s Office, Sacristy, Confessional Room, Baptistery, Bell Tower, and Choir): at Depth 04 (10%), at Depth 03 (20%), and at Depth 01 (30%)

Preparation Space Congregational Space Sacred Space Service Spaces

5.3.3 Spatial Analysis considering Integration:

In Space Syntax the value for integration is another important configurational property. The spatial property, integration is a more developed and in quantitative form of the previously discussed spatial property named ‘depth’ (Hillier, 1987). Integration is a measure of the minimum number of intervening spaces that must be crossed in order to reach all spaces in the spatial configuration (Gomes, 2014). The integration defines the permeable quality of a specific space.

Relevant analysis shows that spaces are usually connected together in ways that vary the distribution of integration throughout the structure, making some spaces more accessible (public spaces) than others (private spaces). The mean depth of a space from all other spaces in the configuration is integration (1/RRA) which describes how permeable that particular space is (Orhun, 1999). Hillier, Hanson, and Graham (1987) defines integration as the relative depth of that space from all others in the graph through the formula: 2(d−1) I = ; k/2

Where I is the Integration Value; d is the mean depth of spaces and k is the total number of spaces

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By using JASS software we find a J-Graph with real relative asymmetry value (RRA). Hanson found this integration to be an inverse of the Real Relative Asymmetry (RRA) value found from the j-graph (Hanson, 1998, p. 28). Higher RRA value leads to lower integration and lower RRA leads to higher integration.

The order of integration is created for the spatial organisations. Table 5.11 shows the Integration Values of the all the spaces which is constructed by reversing the respective RRA values (shown in Appendix 3) found from the graph of the studied churches along with the order of integration.

Narthex is the first space before entering the church from the exterior. Average integration value of Narthex, for Catholic churches is 2.18 and for Protestant churches the value is 1.17 (Table 5.11).

Nave: Nave is the second space from the exterior and the first space of the interior. 10% of the cases (C4, C13, and P3) have the highest integration values (3.45). Here, the average integration value of Nave for Catholic churches is 2.32, and for Protestant churches the value is 1.64 (Table 5.11)

Verandah: In this study, the verandah of C5 has the highest integration value (2.22) than narthex and nave. 1.57 is the average integration value of verandahs for Catholic churches (Table 5.11).

Aisles: In case of both types of churches studied here, C19 (2.56) and P7 (1.75) has the highest integration values in aisles. The average integration values of Aisles for Catholic and Protestant churches are 1.58, and 1.19 respectively (Table 5.11).

Altar: This space has the average integration value of 1.12 for Catholic churches and 0.80 for Protestant churches, which is the lowest among the principal spaces in the church. These results mean that, the altar does not have an easy access from the other spaces (Table 5.11).

Sacristy: In case of this space, the mean integration values for Catholic and Protestant churches are found as 1.43 and 1.04 respectively. This space is connected with the altar but in this study, most of the studied cases the sacristy has a secondary entry which connects it with the exterior (Table 5.11).

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From using J-Graph, following table shows the values of Integration of the spaces present at the studied churches.

1 Table 5.11: Integration values (RRA) of spaces in the church with Order of Integration

Names of the Spaces Ref. MI Order of Integration

Type Ex Nar N V Ai A Sac C Ch B BT PO C1 0.73 2.56 2.56 1.02 0.73 0.64 1.37 Nar, N> V> Ex, A> Sac C2 1.27 2.56 2.56 1.02 1.27 0.85 1.59 Nar, N> Ex, A> Ai> Sac C3 0.85 1.69 2.56 1.02 1.02 0.52 1.28 N> Nar> V> A> Ex> Sac C4 1.75 3.45 1.75 1.16 1.75 1.97 N> Ex>, V, Sac> A C5 1.28 1.79 1.79 2.22 1.27 2.22 1.47 1.72 V, Sac> Nar, N>C>Ex>A C6 0.76 2.27 2.27 1.37 1.37 0.98 1.50 Nar, N> V,A> Sac> Ex Nar, N>Ai, Ex> C> A> Sac> C7 1.11 1.79 1.79 1.11 0.88 0.68 0.99 0.56 1.11

BT C8 2.56 1.27 2.56 1.69 1.27 2.56 1.99 Ex, N, Sac> Ai> Nar, A C9 0.72 2.56 1.27 1.27 0.85 0.85 1.25 Nar> N, V > A, Sac> Ex C10 2.56 2.56 1.27 1.02 0.85 1.27 1.59 Ex, Nar> N, Sac> Ai> A N>Nar, A>Ex, Sac>Ai, C11 1.11 1.47 1.79 0.88 1.47 1.11 0.52 0.88 1.15 BT>Ch C12 0.72 2.56 2.56 1.69 1.02 1.27 1.64 Nar, N>V>Sac>A>Ex Catholic Churches C13 3.45 3.45 1.75 1.16 3.45 2.65 Ex, N, Sac>V>A C14 0.85 1.27 2.56 0.73 1.27 0.85 1.26 N>Nar, A>Ex, Sac>Ai C15 0.86 3.45 2.27 2.27 1.15 0.76 0.86 1.66 Nar>N, Ai>A>Ex>B>Sac C16 0.64 1.69 2.56 1.02 1.02 0.51 1.24 N>Nar>V,A>Ex>Sac C17 1.37 2.27 2.27 2.27 1.15 1.72 1.37 1.77 Nar, N, V>Sac>Ex, BT C18 1.72 2.27 1.72 2.27 1.15 2.27 1.15 1.79 Nar, Ai, Sac>Ex, N>A>BT C19 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 1.27 2.56 2.35 Ex, Nar, N, Ai, Sac> A C20 1.27 2.56 2.56 2.56 1.02 1.69 1.94 N>V>Ex, Sac>Nar>A N> Nar> Ai> V> Sac> Ex> Mean 1.41 2.18 2.32 1.57 1.58 1.12 1.43 1.23 0.52 0.86 0.99 C> A> BT> B> Ch P1 0.98 0.86 2.27 1.15 0.76 1.72 0.69 1.20 N>Sac>AI>EX>Nar>A>PO P2 0.53 2.13 1.05 0.43 0.53 0.93 Nar>N>Ex, PO>A P3 0.70 3.45 1.16 1.75 0.87 1.59 N>A>Ai>PO>Ex P4 0.53 2.13 1.05 0.42 0.53 0.93 Nar>N>Ex, PO>A P5 0.35 0.70 1.05 0.70 0.35 0.63 N>Nar, A> Ex, PO P6 0.33 1.01 1.01 0.33 0.67 Nar, N>Ex, A P7 0.44 0.87 1.16 1.75 1.16 1.08 Ai>N, A> Nar>Ex P8 0.42 1.05 2.13 0.70 0.70 1.00 N>Nar>Ai, A> Ex

Protestant Churches P9 0.35 0.70 1.05 0.70 0.35 0.63 N>Nar, A>Ex, Sac P10 1.05 1.05 2.13 1.05 2.13 1.48 N, PO>Ex, Nar, A

Mean 0.57 1.17 1.64 1.19 0.80 1.04 0.85 N>Ai>Nar>Sac>PO>A>Ex

Legends: Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandah, Ai-Aisle, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy, C- Confessional Room, Ch- Choir, B- Baptistery, BT- Bell Tower, PO-Pastor’s Office

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Following are the order of integration for both Catholic and Protestant churches resulted from Table 5.11:

For Catholic Churches:

N (2.32)> Nar (2.18)> Ai (1.58)> V (1.57)> Sac (1.43)> Ex (1.41)> C (1.23)>

A (1.12)> BT (0.99)> B (0.86)> Ch (0.52)

For Protestant Churches:

N (1.64)>Ai (1.19)>Nar (1.17)>Sac (1.04)>PO (0.85)>A (0.80)>Ex (0.57)

Legend:

N-Nave, Nar-Narthex, Ai-Aisle, V-Verandah, Ex-Exterior, Sac-Sacristy, Ch-Choir, C-Confessional Room, A- Altar, PO-Pastor’s Office

Narthex is a preparation space placed near the entry. Nave is the congregational space where followers gather to pray, and Verandahs, and Aisles are access spaces into the church. It is evident that, congregational spaces have easy accessibility and open for followers. The sacred spaces like Altar of the church are segregated and have lower integration values.

5.4 Discussion:

Maximum nine numbers of spaces constitute the spatial organisation of the churches. Narthex, Nave, Aisles, Verandahs, Altar, Sacristy, Baptismal Font, Confession Space are the typical spaces in these churches. Catholic churches are composed of more spaces than the Protestant churches. 60% of the total studied Catholic churches have spaces above 7 numbers. Only 3% Protestant churches are of eight numbers of spaces. 30% Protestant and 7% Catholic churches 4-6 numbers of spaces (Table 5.12).

Table 5.12: Percentages of various numbers of spaces in the case studies

No of Spaces Catholic Church Protestant Church Total 4-6 7% 30% 37% 7-9 60% 3% 63%

Grand Total 100%

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The use of ‘Justified Access Graph’ of ‘Space Syntax’ helped in understanding the characters of spatial organisation of the 30 studied local contemporary churches. Nave, Narthex acts as node, distributing access from it to the altar and aisles. Exterior leads to the Narthex which is a transition space and leads to Nave, Aisles or verandahs which lead to the altar. Sacristy is a service space that is linked with the altar.

 The randomly selected traditional church from Gomes (2003, pp. 80-84) was analysed with JASS software to find out the spatial configuration. The J-Graph shows that, a ring is formed near entrance with narthex, nave, and both the aisles, and here the altar is not in the ring (Table 5.1). The altar and sacristy of this church is placed in depth 03 and depth 04 respectively according to their importance (Table 5.2). From Table 5.3, the maximum integration value 2.56 is found for nave and the minimum integration value 0.51 is found for sacristy, which means, nave is the most integrated space and the sacristy is the most segregated space of the church (Table 5.3).

 Study shows that 17% of configurations (Protestant Churches) are tree like while 83% (66% of Catholic+17% of Protestant) has rings in their configuration. All the studied Catholic contemporary churches have rings present in the configurations (Table 5.5).

 73% of the studied churches (Catholic and Protestant - C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, C13, C14, C15, C16, C17, C18, C19, C20, P1, and P10) have rings formed near the entrance with the narthex, nave, as well as the verandahs and aisles (Table 5.6).

 Altar is the most sacred space in the church. Altar is segregated from congregational spaces. In this study it was seen that Altar is interconnected with some other spaces like nave, verandahs, and aisles. Study shows that 76% of both Catholic and Protestant churches have rings inside Altar (Table 5.8). Altar in ring disturbs the holiness and the meditational quality of that space.

 From analyzing the depths of the different spaces, following four types of spaces are found according to the activities performed in it:

a) Preparation Space: Narthex (placed near the entry) b) Congregational Space: Nave, Verandahs, and Aisles ( followers gather to pray) c) Sacred Space: Altar ( Rituals performed by the priest)

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d) Service Spaces: Pastor’s Office, Sacristy, Confessional Room, Baptistery, Bell Tower, Choir

 By analyzing depth of the configurations found from the J-Graphs, it was seen that, the churches with ringyness, which started from the exterior and ended at the most interior space of the church have maximum 2 or 3 depths , whereas, the churches with tree like configurations have maximum of 4 depth.

 From the study of the integration values of various spaces it was seen that, Nave, Verandahs, and Aisles as the congregational space have higher integration. The sacred spaces like Altar of the church are segregated and have lower integration values. Normally, it is seen in churches that, the altar has restricted access to the public, only priests can access it during any rituals.

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CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION

6.1 Introduction 6.2 Recapitulation of the Main Objectives

6.2.1 Spatial Organisation of Contemporary Churches

6.2.2 Comparative Study of the Traditional and Contemporary Churches 6.3 Conclusion: Creating spiritual environment in Contemporary Churches

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Introduction:

Church is known to be the most sacred place for praying purposes for the Christian community. It is a place for the spiritual union of believers and therefore the Church building must shelter the community of the worshippers. The space organization is very important in the process of creating a spiritual environment inside the church to focus their full attention in meditation. A well maintained hierarchy of spaces inside the church can create the spiritual and divine space inside.

Christianity was first introduced in this subcontinent by the Portuguese, British, and some other European tradesmen who came here for business purposes (Gomes, 2003). At present, many churches are found in various places in all over Bangladesh. The churches from the early period and the contemporary churches which were built after 1947 have a great deal of differences in Bangladesh.

This research focuses on finding the spatial organization with the intention to understand the influence of spatial organizations for creating spiritual environment inside the churches with the help of comparison between contemporary churches and traditional churches in Bangladesh.

Recapitulation of the Main Objectives:

With a recapitulation of the main objectives and issues, this chapter creates an argument of the findings of the investigation. The study findings lead to formulating spatial organization of the contemporary churches. In order to draw final conclusions on the basis of the outcome of the investigations, this chapter outlines a set of broad issues and agenda to help to construct guidelines for the spatial organization of the contemporary churches which shall create spiritual environment in the congregation space.

The aim of this study is to formulate a clear understanding of the spatial organization of contemporary churches in Bangladesh with the following specific objectives: The first objective, ‘To find out the pattern of spatial organizations of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh ‘, tries to establish a pattern of the spaces in the contemporary churches of Bangladesh. For this part of study, 30 contemporary churches in Bangladesh were analysed with ‘Space Syntax’ methodology to find out the spatial pattern. The second objective, ‘To trace the changes in the spatial organization of both traditional and contemporary local churches’ will evaluate the contemporary pattern in creating the religious environment in the churches with a comparison of the traditional spatial

127 organisations. The early European churches were studied in this research from secondary sources. The different periods, like, Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic etc. has different and unique styles. These styles boldly represent the characteristics of that time. After analysing the plans and other related drawings for this study a pattern and sequence for the spaces were found for creating spiritual spatial quality inside the churches. For this research, a traditional local church was also studied from an earlier thesis of Gomes (2003) which also helped to understand the spatial patterns (Figure 5.2).

6.2.1 Spatial Organisation of Contemporary Churches:

The first objective leads to finding the characteristics of the contemporary churches in Bangladesh. An overview of the early churches in Bangladesh shows that a transformation has taken place considering the spatial organization. In the churches of Bangladesh different spaces in the church are organized following the typical layout of the European churches. This spatial organization creates a sense of spirituality with the hierarchy of the spaces in the church. In the local contemporary churches of Bangladesh layout seems to differ from the traditional churches in the hierarchy and sequences of the spaces inside the church.

The variety of spatial organisations of the 30 studied local contemporary churches are found by analysing the spaces seen from the plans of the churches. Maximum nine numbers of spaces constitute the spatial organization of the churches. Narthex, Nave, Aisles, Verandahs, Altar, Sacristy, Baptismal Font, Confession Space are the typical spaces in these churches. Catholic churches are composed of more spaces than the Protestant churches. 60% of the total studied Catholic churches have spaces above 7 numbers. Only 3% Protestant churches are of eight numbers of spaces. 30% Protestant and 7% Catholic churches 4-6 numbers of spaces (Table 6.1).

Table 6.1: Percentages of below and above 6 numbers of spaces in case studies

No of Spaces Catholic Church Protestant Church Total

Below 6 (4-6) 7% 30% 37% Above 6 (7-9) 60% 3% 63% Grand Total 100%

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Legends:

Ex-Exterior, Nar-Narthex, N-Nave, V-Verandah, Ai-Aisle, A-Altar, Sac-Sacristy,PO-Pastor’s Office

Figure 6.1: J-Graph of the Contemporary Churches

Nave, Narthex acts as node, distributing access from it to the altar and aisles. Exterior leads to the Narthex which is a transition space and leads to Nave, Aisles or verandahs which lead to the altar. Sacristy is a service space that is linked with the altar (Figure 6.1).

Nave is the most used space and Altar is the most sacred space for a church. A church would be incomplete without these two spaces. Both Nave and Altar are present in all the churches studied in this research (Table 6.2). Nave is the space where the narthex opens to the nave or central hall lighted by the clearstory openings where the main congregation takes place and an Altar is a space that is present in all churches on which the priests stand and offer prayers with the followers in front of him.

Narthex is known to be the preparation space for the priests as well as the followers before entering the church. In this study 90% of the both Catholic and Protestant churches have narthexes present (Table 6.2). In the context of Catholic churches in Bangladesh, the front verandahs are used as the Narthex. In most cases of contemporary Protestant churches the stair or lift lobbies are used as the Narthex.

In local context, aisles are a type of extended space for the nave. The churches which do not have any aisles have verandahs outside and surrounding the nave. Here, only 40% of both Catholic and Protestant churches are with aisles (Table 6.2).

Choir is a separate space for the group along with their instruments to sing during any ritual performed inside the church. Among the studied Catholic churches only 1 of them 129

(C11) has a completely separate space for choir. In the Protestant churches separate space for choir is totally absent. Most of the churches studied here have choir placed at the end of the nave, aisles, and in some Protestant churches choir space is attached with the altar.

Table 6.2: Numbers and Percentage of the basic spaces in the studied churches

Spaces present in the studied churches

Spaces Catholic Churches Percentage Protestant Churches Percentage

Narthex 18 90% 9 90%

Nave 20 100% 10 100%

Aisles 8 40% 4 40%

Altar 20 100% 10 100%

Choir 1 5% 0 0%

From analysis four types of spaces are found according to the activities performed in it:

a) Preparation Space: Narthex (placed near the entry) b) Congregational Space: Nave, Verandahs/Aisles (followers gather to pray) c) Sacred Space: Altar (Rituals performed by the priest) d) Service Spaces: Pastor’s Office, Sacristy, Confessional Room, Baptistery, Bell Tower, Choir

Ringyness is an essential feature of spatial configurations in the contemporary churches which is created with choice of access among the spaces. It was seen in the syntactic analysis of thirty contemporary churches in Bangladesh in chapter five that 17% of configurations are tree like while 83% (66%+17%) has rings in their configuration. All the studied Catholic contemporary churches have rings present in the configurations (Table 5.5). None of the studied Catholic churches have tree like configurations, and 40% of the studied Protestant churches (4 out of 10) have tree like configuration (Figure 5.4).

Rings or choice in movement occurred in two zones: a. Entry to the church gives choices of access with ring in narthex from exterior. 73% of the studied churches (Catholic and Protestant - C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, C13, C14, C15, C16, C17, C18, C19, C20, P1, and P10) have rings formed near the entrance with the narthex, nave, as well as the verandahs and aisles (Table 5.6). b. Altar is the most sacred space in the church. In this study it was seen that altar is interconnected with some other spaces like nave, verandahs, and aisles, which 130

decreases the holiness and meditational quality of the altar. Study shows that 83% of both Catholic and Protestant churches have rings inside Altar (Table 5.9).

The spaces of the churches are placed according to their hierarchy and function. The spaces which are used by the congregations are usually placed near the entrance of the church. In case of the depths of the spaces, 90% of the cases have their narthexes placed near the entrance in ‘depth 1’ (Table 5.9). The entrance is mostly connected with the narthex, nave (in cases where narthex is absent), verandahs, and sacristy. From the study it was seen that the depths varies from 1.00 to 2.80 (Table 6.3).

Table 6.3: Depths of different spaces in the studied churches

Type of Mean Depth Highest Lowest Mean

Churches Narthex Nave Aisles Altar Sacristy Mean Depth Depth

Catholic 1.00 1.90 1.63 2.55 2.15 2.55 (Altar) 1.00 (Narthex)

Protestant 1.00 2.00 2.25 2.80 1.00 2.80 (Altar) 1.00 (Narthex)

From analyzing the depths of the different spaces, following four types of spaces are found according to the activities performed in it: a) Preparation Space (Narthex): at Depth 01 (90%) b) Congregational Space (Nave, Verandahs/Aisles): at Depth 02 (90%) c) Sacred Space (Altar): at Depth 03 (67%), and at Depth 02 (33%) d) Service Spaces (Pastor’s Office, Sacristy, Confessional Room, Baptistery, and Choir): at Depth 04 (10%), at Depth 03 (20%), and at Depth 01 (30%)

depth 01 depth 02 depth 03

Nave/ Narthex Altar Verandahs/ Pastor’s Office/ Aisles Sacristy

Preparation Space Congregational Space Sacred Space Service Spaces

The integration values were also found out from the J-Graph. The spaces which can be accessible easily from any other spaces have the highest integration value. In this study, in both Catholic and Protestant churches, nave is the most integrated space than the others. Altar and sacristy have the least integration values, which means these spaces are the most segregated spaces than the others. The nave has the highest and the Altar has the lowest integration value for both Catholic and Protestant churches (Table 6.4). 131

For Catholic Churches:

N (2.32)> Nar (2.18)> Ai (1.58)> V (1.57)> Sac (1.43)> Ex (1.41)> C (1.23)>

A (1.12)> BT (0.99)> B (0.86)> Ch (0.52)

For Protestant Churches:

N (1.64)>Ai (1.19)>Nar (1.17)>Sac (1.04)>PO (0.85)>A (0.80)>Ex (0.57)

Legend: N-Nave, Nar-Narthex, Ai-Aisle, V-Verandah, Ex-Exterior, Sac-Sacristy, Ch-Choir, A-Altar, PO-Pastor’s Office

Table 6.4: Spaces with highest and lowest Integration Values

Type of Mean Integration (MI) Values Highest MI Lowest MI

Churches Narthex Nave Aisles Altar Sacristy Value Value

Catholic 2.18 2.32 1.58 1.12 1.43 2.32 (Nave) 1.12 (Altar)

Protestant 1.17 1.64 1.19 0.80 1.04 1.64 (Nave) 0.80 (Altar)

From the study of the integration values of various spaces it was seen that, Nave, Verandahs/Aisles as the congregational space, where followers gather to pray, have higher integration. The sacred spaces like Altar of the church are segregated and have lower integration values. Narthex is a preparation space placed near the entry and Sacristy is a service space which has a separate entry directly from the exterior for the priest’s entry which has connection with the Altar. Normally, it is seen in churches that, the altar has restricted access to the public, only priests can access it during any rituals.

6.2.2 Comparative Study of the Traditional and Contemporary Churches:

In the Early Christian period basilican type of plan with horizontal impression was the model used for early churches. Wooden truss roof covers the central nave space. Lighting inside the church is by clearstory lighting through the gap between nave and aisles height. Centralized plan usually of square or rectangular type characterizes the Byzantine churches (Figure 2.2).

Later this converted into a Greek cross-type plan with multiple domes. Internal space is dominated by central dome on pendentives to create vertical impression. Addition of transepts and prolongation of sanctuary made the Basilican type of church a well-defined Latin cross on plan in Romanesque period. The entire system consists of a skeleton of

132 piers, buttresses, pointed arches and ribbed vaulting – all held in equilibrium in Gothic period. Load was carried down through the frames and walls thus became non-load bearing and could be easily replaced by brilliant stained glass windows like paintings depicting the story of the Bible.

a) Narthex: Narthex is found in both European and local traditional churches with dominant state. But in most cases in both contemporary European and local churches this space is absent. b) Nave: This is the gathering space for the congregation so nave is present in all churches. The shape, size, and direction changed from traditional to contemporary.

c) Aisles: This space is mostly seen in the traditional churches. On the other hand, contemporary churches lack this space and in some cases in local contemporary churches this space became the verandah.

d) Altar: This space is the most sacred space than any other spaces in a church. Altar is present in every church with various size, shape, and direction. In traditional churches, the direction for facing the altar was important but in most of the contemporary churches the importance for the direction of altars is lost.

In modern times, churches adopted and developed their forms aesthetically as an evidence of the relevence of Christianity to the modern world. In this modern period, buildings especially churches were built as sculptures (for example, Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, France, which used concrete as a sculptural medium).

From 1955 contemporary architectural styles for churches started to be accepted in Britain both for Catholic and Protestant churches (Proctor, 2014). According to McNamara (2011), 20th century’s movement known as ‘modernism’ required a revolutionary pause from the established tranditionalism.

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Traditional Contemporary

European

Source: (Flecther, 1920) Source: Google Images Source: (Proctor, 2014) Source: Google Images Traditional Contemporary

Local (Bangladesh) Local

Source for plans and images: (Gomes, 2003) Source for plans and images: This Study Figure 6.2: Traditional and contemporary European and Local churches 134

Conclusion: Creating spiritual environment in Contemporary Churches

Church – an edifice to house the Christian congregation for religious activities was developed in the western world (Flecther, 1920). Church is known to be the most sacred place for praying purposes for the Christian community.

The basic spaces which were seen in all the studied contemporary local churches are narthex, nave, aisles, verandah, Altar, and sacristy. From these spaces the narthex, nave, verandahs, aisles, and in some cases the sacristy are connected with outside or exterior space. The connections of these spaces with the exterior space except for the narthex disturb the sequences which should have been properly maintained. The ‘ringyness’ is seen in all the cases studied here. Ringyness with the spaces sometimes gives access from all spaces in the rings and disturbs in the meditational quality. This configuration was absent in Early European churches as well as the traditional local churches.

The spaces of the churches are placed according to their hierarchy and function. The spaces which are used by the congregations are usually placed near the entrance of the church. The entrance is mostly connected with the narthex, nave (in cases where narthex is absent), verandahs, and sacristy. The hierarchy and the sequences of the spaces in the churches were seen from the early traditional church spatial organizations. Narthex led to the nave and then to Altar and altar was placed in greater depth. In this subcontinent the church form generated from a foreign style and belief but as the religion was adopted by the local people so did the church. In the early period the sequence and hierarchy of the spaces were followed like the traditional European churches. Later in the contemporary churches this hierarchy was absent. In some cases the nave and altar lacks the depth. The contemporary churches in Bangladesh have proper sequence of spaces but the spaces are interconnected with each other in such ways that sometimes the hierarchy and significance of the spaces are lost. The shallow depths of the contemporary churches also disturb the serenity of the Altar as well as the concentration of the priests when on the Altar during any prayer or ritual.

From the study of the integration values of various spaces it was seen that, Nave, Verandahs/Aisles as the congregational space have higher integration. The sacred spaces like Altar of the church are segregated and have lower integration values. Normally, it is seen in churches that, the altar has restricted access to the public, only priests can access it during any rituals.

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The three types of spaces present in the contemporary local churches are: congregational spaces (narthex, nave, and aisles), sacred space (Altar), and service spaces (sacristy, verandahs, choir, bell tower, pastor’s office etc.). Organization, hierarchy, and sequence of the spaces bring out the spiritual quality of a church. From the study, it is seen that, Altar being the most sacred space of a church, the depth, and integration value of this space provide segregation from the congregational spaces (narthex / nave).

The contemporary churches adopted and developed all over the world focusing on their forms aesthetically. The use of modern materials is one of the extra ordinary characteristics of the contemporary churches, thus modern churches is the creation of the Holy emptiness focusing the central space of congregation inside the churches are moving away from the traditional basilican type interiors. Organisation of spaces and their hierarchy are not like those of the traditional churches. Moreover the ringyness of the altar with other spaces creates less spirituality inside the nave. For creating the religious and spiritual environment inside the churches an understanding about the spatial organisations developed from the comparison of the contemporary churches and traditional churches in Bangladesh is required for designing Churches in Bangladesh.

This study covered the part about the spatial organisation of the contemporary local churches which helps to feel the meditational quality inside the church. Contemporary churches have other important factors like impact of natural and artificial lighting, aesthetical form of the church itself, as well as influence of ringyness of spaces, which also help to make the environment appropriate for praying. Each of these factors can elaborately and separately studied in any further researches.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: List of Catholic churches from all over Bangladesh Appendix 2: J-Graphs of the 30 selected churches in Bangladesh Appendix 3: RRA values of the spaces of the 30 selected churches in Bangladesh

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Appendix 1: List of Catholic churches from all over Bangladesh

Sl. Re- Built Diocese Name of the Church Location built No Year . Year 1 St. Mary’s Cathedral Ramna, Dhaka 1956 2 Our Lady of Fatima Church Comilla 1953 3 Holy Cross Church Luxmibazar, Dhaka 1868 4 St. Paul’s Church Narayanganj 1952 5 (Old) Holy Rosary Church Tejgaon, Dhaka 1677 6 (New) Holy Rosary Church Tejgaon, Church 1993 7 Holy Spirit Seminary Chapel Banani, Dhaka 1976 8 De Mazenod Church Nayanagar, Dhaka 1982 9 Our Lady of Lourdes Church Mohakhali, Dhaka 1985 10 St. Lawrence Church South Kafrul, Dhaka 1985 Mohammadpur, 1990 11 St. Christina’s Church Dhaka 12 Mary Queen of Apostles Mirpur- 2, Dhaka 1995

Church 13 St. Augustine Church Kewachala, Gazipur 14 St. Therese of Child Jesus Faucal, Gazipur 1972 Catholic Church 15 Sacred Heart Church Rangamatia, Gazipur 1924 Dhaka Diocese Dhaka 16 St. John the Baptist Church Tumilia, Gazipur 1844 2011 17 Church of Holy Family Doripara, Gazipur 2002 18 St. Nicholas of Tolentino Nagori, Gazipur 1695 2008 Church 19 St. Augustine’s Church Mathbari, Gazipur 1925 2013 20 St. Augustine of Canterbury Uttara, Dhaka 1893 Church 21 Good Shepherd Church Bhadun, Gazipur 22 Christ the King Church Tongi, Gazipur 23 Our Lady of Lourdes Church Harbaid, Gazipur 24 St. Anne’s Church Rajabari, Uttara 25 St. Joseph’s Church Dharenda, Savar 1926 1992 26 St. Joseph’s Church Solepur, Munshiganj 1850 27 St. Francis Xavier’s Church Gobindapur, Golla 1844 1965

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28 St. Anthony of Padua Boxonagar, Dhaka 1860 2005 Church 29 Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Hasnabad, Dhaka 1777 Church 30 Holy Spirit Church Tuitaal, Dhaka 1914 1993 31 Fatima Rani Church Sunabaju, Dhaka 1924 Total Churches in Dhaka Diocese 31 Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Patharghata, 32 1843 1933 Cathedral Chittagong 33 St. Joseph’s Church Pahartali, Chittagong 1924 34 Miriam Church Diang, Chittagong 1600 35 Church of the Immaculate Jamalkhan, 1601 1955 Conception Chittagong 36 Church of Our Lady of Sonapur, Noakhali 1843 Lourdes 37 Church of St. Joseph Rangamati 1955

38 Fatima Rani Church Bandarban 1957 39 St. Paul’s Church Bandarban 2008

Diocese 40 Church of Our Lady of Bolipara, Bandarban 1982 Presentation 41 Shanti Raj church Thanchi, Bandarban 2000 42 Shanti Rani Church Alikadam, Bandarban 2005 Chittagong 43 St. Vincent de Paul Church Kolajhiri, Bandarban 1983 44 St. John’s Church Khagrachori 2008 45 St. Peter’s Church Lama, Bandarban 46 St. Peter’s Church Barisal 1864 47 Church of Our Lady of Padrishibpur, Barisal 1764 Guidance 48 Church of the Sacred Heart Gournadi, Barisal 1884 49 Ghorarpar Catholic Church Barisal 50 Church of St. Teresa of the Narikelbari, Gopalganj 1901 Child Jesus Total churches in Chittagong Diocese 19 51 St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Kosba, Dinajpur 1927

52 Christ, the Savior Church Boldipukur, Rangpur 1949 53 St. John, the Baptist Church Lohanipara, Rangpur 2007 54 St. Francis of Assisi Church Dhanjuri, Dinajpur 1909 2009

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55 Sacred Heart of Jesus Khalippur, Dinajpur 2006 Church 56 Immaculate Heart of Mary Nilphamari 1998 Church 57 Sacred Heart of Jesus Lalmonirhat Church 58 Our Lady of Assumption Khalisha, Rangpur 1980 Church 59 Our Lady of Sorrows Church Mariampur, Dinajpur 1930 2001 60 Sacred heart of Jesus Christ Suihari, Dinajpur 1965 61 St. Joseph Church Mohespur, Dinajpur Dinajpur Diocese Dinajpur 62 Christ the King Church Birganj, Dinajpur 1959 63 Sts. Peter and Paul Church Joypurhat 1962 64 Fatima Rani Church Thakurgaon 1957 65 St. Andrew Kim Church Thakurgaon 66 Our Lady of Lourdes Church Saidpur, Nilphamari 1896 67 Blessed Virgin Mary Church Thakurgaon 1964

Total Churches in Dinajpur Diocese 17 68 St. Joseph’s Cathedral Khulna 1956 69 Probhu Jishur Girja Khulna 1990 70 St. Mary’s Church Khulna 1988 71 St. Francis Xavier Church Satkhira 1989 72 Christ the King Church Satkhira 1937 73 Sacred Heart Church Jessore 1856

74 Blessed Mother Teresa Norail Church 75 Our Lady of Rosary Church Jessore 1859 76 Church of Our Lady of Meherpur 1866 Sorrows Khulna Diocese Khulna 77 St. Paul’s Church Bagerhat 1870 78 Most Holy Redeemer Gopalganj 1938 Church 79 Sacred Heart Catholic Chuadanga Church 80 St. Micheal’s Catholic Khulna Church

Total Churches in Khulna Diocese 13

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81 St. Patrick’s Cathedral Mymensingh 1927 82 St. Joseph’s Church Netronkona 1912 83 St. Teresa’s Church Bhalukapara, 1926 Mymensingh 84 St. John the Baptist Church Dhairpara, 1967 Mymensingh

85 St. Elizabeth’s Church Biroidakuni, 1928 Mymensingh 86 Holy Name of Jesus Church Baluchora, Netrokona 1930 87 St. George’s Church Mariamnagar, Sherpur 1939 88 Corpus Christi Church Jalchatra, Tangail 1960 89 Immaculate Heart of Mary Netrokona 1989 Church Mymensingh Diocese Mymensingh 90 St. Paul’s Church Pirgacha, Tangail 1993 91 St. Andrew Kim Church Jhaljhalia, 2006 Mymensingh 92 Mary Our Help Church Utrail, Netrokona 2009 93 Christ the King Church Dorgachala, 2010 Mymensingh 94 St. Peter’s Church Dhakua, Mymensingh 1993 Total Churches in Mymensingh Diocese 14 95 Our Lady of Perpetural Help Andharkota, Rajshahi 1907 96 Sacred Heart of Jesus Beneedwar, Naogaon 1925 97 Bhutahara Catholic Church Naogaon 2003 98 Our Lady of Lourdes Bonpara, Natore 1940 99 St. Francis Xavier’s Church Bhabanipur, Natore 2011

100 Good Shepherd Cathedral Baganpara, Rajshahi 2002 101 Church of King of Peace Chandpukur, Naogaon 1979 102 St. Francis Xavier’s Catholic Foilzana, Pabna 2001 Church 103 Mary, Queen Assumed into Jhoragopalpur, Natore 2008 Rajshahi Diocese Rajshahi Heaven Catholic Church 104 Gulta Catholic Church Sirajganj 2008 105 Maria Virgo Potens Catholic Borni, Natore 1949 Church 106 St. Anthony’s Church Mohipara, Rajshahi 1995 107 St. Rita’s Church Mothurapur, Pabna 1925

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108 St. Joseph’s Church Rhanpur, Chapai 1947 Nawabganj 109 Mundumala Catholic Church Rajshahi 2005 110 Presentation of Our Lord Sursunipara, Rajshahi 1993 Catholic Church 111 Don Bosco Parish Catholic Lokhokul, Naogaon 2008 Church 112 St. Paul’s Parish Catholic Katadanga, Naogaon 2003 Church 113 EMMAUS- House of Bogra 1988 Spirituality Catholic Church Total Churches in Rajshahi Diocese 19 114 De Mazenod Church Khadimnagar, Sylhet 1975 115 St. Joseph’s Church Srimangal, 1950 Moulvibazar

116 St. Marcelin Chapagnat Shaestagonj, Habiganj 1951 Church 117 Immaculate Conception Lokhipur, Moulvibazar 1985 Church 118 Divine Mercy Church Dimai, Moulvibazar 2011 Sylhet Sylhet Diocese 119 St. Thomas Church Narayantola, 1951 Sunamgonj 120 St. Patrick’s Church Jaflong, Sylhet 2002 121 St. Anthony’s Church Sunamganj 2011 Total Churches in Sylhet Diocese 8

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Appendix 2: J-Graphs of the 30 selected churches in Bangladesh

Ref. Plan J-Graph

147

148

C10

C11

149

C12

C13

C14

C15

150

C16

C17

C18

C19

151

C20

152

153

P10

Legends: Nar- Narthex, N- Nave, Ai- Aisle, V- Verandah, A- Altar, Sac- Sacristy, C- Confessional Room, B- Baptistery, Ch- Choir, BT- Bell Tower, PO- Pastor’s Office

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Appendix 3: RRA values of the spaces of the 30 selected churches in Bangladesh

Names of the Spaces Ref.

Type Ex Nar N V Ai A Sac C Ch B BT PO C1 1.37 0.39 0.39 0.98 0.98 1.37 C2 0.79 0.39 0.39 0.98 0.79 1.18 C3 0.79 0.39 0.39 0.98 0.79 1.18 C4 0.57 0.29 0.57 0.86 0.57 C5 0.79 0.56 0.56 0.45 0.79 0.45 0.68 C6 1.31 0.44 0.44 0.73 0.73 1.02

C7 0.90 0.56 0.56 0.90 1.13 1.92 1.01 1.80 C8 0.39 0.79 0.39 0.59 0.79 0.39 C9 1.37 0.39 0.79 0.79 1.18 1.18 C10 0.39 0.39 0.79 0.98 1.18 0.79 C11 0.90 0.68 0.56 1.13 0.68 0.90 1.92 1.13 C12 1.37 0.39 0.39 0.58 0.98 0.79 C13 0.29 0.29 0.57 0.86 0.29 Catholic Churches Catholic C14 1.18 0.79 0.39 1.37 0.79 1.18 C15 1.16 0.29 0.44 0.44 0.87 1.31 1.16 C16 1.57 0.59 0.39 0.98 0.98 1.96 C17 0.73 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.87 0.58 0.73 C18 0.58 0.44 0.58 0.44 0.87 0.44 0.87 C19 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.79 0.39 C20 0.79 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.98 0.59

P1 1.02 1.16 0.44 0.87 1.31 0.58 1.45 P2 1.89 0.47 0.95 2.37 1.89 P3 1.43 0.29 0.86 0.57 1.15 P4 1.89 0.47 0.95 2.37 1.89 P5 2.84 1.42 0.95 1.42 2.84 P6 3.00 0.99 0.99 3.00 P7 2.29 1.15 0.86 0.57 0.86 P8 2.37 0.95 0.47 1.42 1.42

Protestant Churches Protestant P9 2.84 1.42 0.95 1.42 2.84 P10 0.95 0.95 0.47 0.95 0.47

Legends: Nar- Narthex, N- Nave, Ai- Aisle, V- Verandah, A- Altar, Sac- Sacristy, C- Confessional Room, B- Baptistery, Ch- Choir, BT- Bell Tower, PO- Pastor’s Office

155