Colum(n)barium - Detail

A cemetery deserves more than a standardised object. We propose a modular funerary structure that restores a sense of individuality and can evolve into a place for remembrance, ceremony, and dialogue with its surroundings.

Contemporary columbaria are often ready-made objects rather than thoughtfully designed, bespoke funerary structures. Individuality is taken away from us, much like being forced to wear a uniform in prison. These objects are often aesthetically unappealing and fail to reflect the significance of the ceremonies they accommodate or the value of the cemetery as a place of remembrance.

We believe in the value of a carefully designed funerary structure: a modular system that allows different compositions to emerge from a single, repeated element. Through a playful process of arrangement, the structure can grow into a pavilion, a theatrical backdrop, a landscape axis, or a grid. It can express something about one's faith, the place one has lived, one's community, and the culture in which one was raised. This proposal creates greater scope for personalisation and individual expression.

The spaces between the vertical elements create opportunities for ceremonies and places of rest and contemplation. The structure also invites dialogue with historic graves and the natural landscape of the cemetery, allowing new forms of remembrance to coexist with the site's existing heritage and environment.