The last place
What is the nature of grief and mourning in a society that no longer shares a religious or philosophical view of death and what comes after it? In our proposal for the expansion of the Vratislavice cemetery, we sought a form that is appropriately dignified, yet at the same time contains a grain of hope without referencing religious symbols. Working informally, we called this approach comforting architecture.
Location:
Vratislavice nad Nisou, Czech Republic
Client:
Vratislavice nad Nisou
Status:
Realized
Project year:
2022
Completion year:
2024
Built-up area:
2.650 m²
Architects:
Tobiáš Hrabec, Jan Mach, Jan Vondrák
Photography:
BoysPlayNice
The old cemetery above Vratislavice has been newly expanded with several elements to accommodate methods of final farewell that are common today, such as ash scattering or interment. The circular scattering meadow is complemented by a ceremonial table made of solid granite quarried from the slopes of the Jizera Mountains and a grove of memorial torches. The ash interment meadows are located in the rear of the cemetery. Beneath a mature birch tree, we designed a modest memorial site where people can say goodbye to unborn children. The continuation of the paved path and central axis terminates in a circular water feature reflecting the sky above us.
Scattering meadow. The circular shape of the meadow loosely references the cyclical nature of life and our passage through it. The meadow is surrounded by a grove of memorial torches, reverent elements serving as a memory of the deceased whose ashes were scattered. Each individual element features a brass plaque bearing the name of the deceased or the family. By touching the top of the element, the mourner lights a cut-glass lantern, which remains illuminated for the following seventy-two hours. It is thus a contemporary reinterpretation of the candle-lighting ritual in memory of the deceased.
