How to make a strong statement with a humble gesture?

REFERENCESSK2 - Forest Crematorium

The new crematorium will be located in a small clearing within the piece of untouched forest behind Asplund’s crematorium building. According to the brief, the new building is to be not a separate landmark building, but primarily a utility building with a religious presence, forming part of the overall Woodland Cemetery Composition.

The challenge was to organize the network connecting the new building to the existing crematorium and chapels, as well as the rest of the Woodland Cemetery. We propose 3 paths to reach the clearing: two for the pedestrians that cross each other in the clearing, and one for vehicles to reach the clearing and return. At this intersection we imagine the new crematorium as a clearing in the forest rather than a built object. The two intersecting paths carve through the soil of the undergrowth descending slowly while opening the ground up to the light and the air of the skies above.

The slightly offset cruciform allows the landscape to rise in the form of four sloping green roofs encircling an intimate clearing. Beneath the sloping roofs, four interconnected spaces accommodate the four elements of the cremation process in a single loop: from the coffin loading and storage area to the cremation area on to the ash handling and urn storage in order to end with facilities for the staff. The intersecting paths are offset in a mill-like formation creating a small courtyard at their intersection, filling the heart of the crematorium with natural daylight and fresh air.

RECEPTION

URNS

STAFF

COLDSTORE

FURNACE

Project Forest Crematorium

client Stockholm Stads Kyrkogårdsförvaltning

conSUltAntS Topotek1Adams Kara Taylor

SiZe 1.400 M2

locAtion Stockholm, SE