3 minute read
Q&A
Max Lamb
The designer has created a new altar for a modernist south London church; here he explains more about creating work for sacred spaces and the meaning behind the objects
As told to Elizabeth Choppin How did you become involved in this project? I was invited to submit a proposal for the church by Aldo Rinaldi, the curator and producer who was working with Father Peter Packer, and the diocese. Peter has subsequently moved to Valetta in Malta, but was involved throughout.
What did you create for them? A new altar, treatment of the large sanctuary floor area – the area in which the altar sits and the space immediately around it – along with a new pair of altar candles and a paschal candle, which is a very large candle used at Easter. It was felt that these elements needed to be of a higher design quality when the space was refurbished by Molyneux Architects, which is an upgrade to the original 1960s design by architect David Bush.
Had you done anything similar before? This is the first series of works that I have created for a faith space.
Was the process of designing for a sacred space different from any other brief? Were you approaching it from a purely design point of view, or are you part of the congregation? I am not religious or part of the congregation, however I have always had an interest in churches in terms of architecture and their environment and atmosphere. I was really excited by the opportunity.
How did that play into your thinking, or not? My creative process is always driven by the relationship between material and process, guided by the functional requirements of the object I’m designing and making. I was interested in how the simplicity of concept, form and material could come to bear here, to honour the humble beauty of the existing modernist church.
What materials did you use, and why? The altar and candles are made from Portland stone, a form of limestone from which large parts of London are built, and which is quarried from the Isle of Portland, on the south coast. My choice of the limestone referenced the existing font, which was salvaged from the original church that stood in its place – the buildings of St Jude and St Chrysostom were sadly bombed during the second world war and the current St John Chrysostom was erected in 1965 to David Bush’s design. One of the limestone columns was saved and turned into the font that is still used today. It was a natural choice to adopt the same Portland limestone from which to carve the new altar.
How were the objects made? Were there challenges in working with the stone? I used the visual and physical properties of the stone, combined with diamond cutting techniques and hand-masonry, to design the method of construction. To reduce the weight and quantity of stone required, I made the early decision to create the monolithic form out of slabs and in doing so I was able to use the assembly of the intersecting slabs and the altar top to make a really efficient construction while naturally creating the five Maltese crosses. The Maltese cross is a symbol that
consists of four inverted “V” shaped arrows converging at a central vertex – but here, instead of the crosses being markings on the altar, they are formed from the stone sections and criss-crossing interplay of the elements on the corners and the central slab.
Churches are one of the few public places in a city where people feel compelled to quieten down, sit still. Was that part of the allure? The church is a beautiful space; it is a refuge for the congregation, local people and its staff – something that has become even more important during Covid.
What do these pieces mean to people and why do they matter? It was clear from the start that this was more than a building, and that it was an important social space for the wider community to gather. Members of the congregation and church staff were really important to this project, supporting it throughout, in a process that took several years to realise.
Above Max Lamb’s new Portland stone altar, complementing the minimalist architecture of the 1960s church
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Habitas, AlUla. Read the full story on p42 Image by Kleinjan Groenewald
