For centuries, burial practices across various cultures have connected honoring the deceased to the earth, with cemeteries firmly grounded in the soil as a symbol of eternal peace. Yet, as discussed in one of our articles, No More Room for the Living or the Dead: Exploring the Future for Burials in Asia, land shortages in densely developed urban areas present significant challenges to traditional burial practices, especially as societies like Japan face an aging population. Given these spatial constraints, how can above-ground cemeteries and columbariums be designed to provide a dignified, tranquil resting place while respecting cultural values?
Historically, cemeteries have served as public parks, offering urban communities a rare green space for recreation and reflection despite superstitions that might otherwise deter visitors. This dual function revived during the COVID-19 pandemic when well-designed cemeteries once again became valued retreats for natural respite.
If future cemetery designs must extend vertically due to limited ground space, is it possible to maintain the cemetery's public essence within multi-story or enclosed structures? Reimagining cemeteries to balance reverence for the deceased with a sense of openness and community use could be a pathway to preserving their role as inclusive, shared spaces, even as they adapt to new spatial forms.
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In Praise of CemeteriesChallenges in Vertical Cemeteries: Balancing Atmosphere, Access, and Hierarchy
Designing multi-story spaces for the deceased is far more complex than merely stacking levels; it requires careful attention to light, shadow, ventilation, circulation, and the relationship and balance of public and private spaces. In multi-story cemeteries, achieving a harmony of these elements is essential to create neither overly dark nor claustrophobic spaces. For instance, ensuring sufficient natural ventilation is critical to regulating moisture and temperature, preventing the environment from feeling stagnant or uncomfortable, particularly when visiting alone. Well-designed multi-story cemeteries and columbariums can be powerful examples of architecture that uses passive environmental strategies to create a space conducive to visitors' physical comfort and emotional reflection.
Another challenging consideration is the avoidance of hierarchy within cemetery spaces. To foster a collective experience of respect, spaces typically aim to avoid irregularity or clear hierarchy, whereas anomaly spaces store our ancestors. Sensitively organizing and stacking spaces requires thoughtful design to prevent any particular position from being noticeably more favorable than another. While specific locations, such as those near the end of a corridor or higher on a wall, may be inevitable, multi-level cemeteries pay particular attention to ensure consistency in accessibility, visibility, spatial dimensions, and material quality. This approach maintains a respectful and uniform experience across the entire cemetery, upholding a standard that honors each individual equally.
Another significant challenge when developing vertically as a public gathering space is the provision (or overprovision) of vertical circulation and egress. Cemeteries, on particular cultural holidays, typically receive a sudden and considerable surge of visitors. This is particularly the case in certain Asian countries, like Hong Kong, which still upholds its ancestor's visiting cultural holidays on two specific holidays in a calendar year, the Ching Ming Festival and Chung Yeung Festival. This sudden surge of visitors will be less of a problem on any open or single-story structure but become particularly challenging when designing multi-story buildings. It requires specific attention and careful planning to merge vertical circulation with public spaces, such that when less in use, the circulation space is not a wasted architectural element within the building.
From Structural Mass to Reflective Void: Reimagining Vertical Cemeteries
A notable strategy in recent multi-story columbariums and cemeteries is balancing architectural mass and fluid, volumetric voids. The San Mauro Torinese Cemetery Extension by Raimondo Guidacci exemplifies this approach by seamlessly integrating the building's structural elements with the functional mass of cemetery storage. The concrete posts wrapped in corten steel along the building's perimeter give the structure an open and inviting facade. However, structural components are cleverly concealed inside the burial niches, creating a unified spatial experience. The uniformly gridded stone panels, sized similarly to that of a body, provide a visual sense of structural mass and aesthetic cohesion, ensuring homogeneity throughout the building while underscoring the role of the deceased as symbolic pillars supporting the architectural structure. In this way, the storage of the deceased becomes a defining structural element, contributing to the overall support and strength of the design.
While San Mauro Torinese Cemetery Extension emphasizes an open exterior that fosters fluid connections with the outside environment, navigating natural ventilation and daylight across multiple floors, other designs turn inward to create a sense of privacy and introspection. The Eternal Hill Columbarium by Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten in Taiwan adopts this inward-facing design by centering around a grand, open atrium. This internal void, surrounded by terraces, generates a sanctuary-like atmosphere opaque from the outside, preserving a quiet, esoteric quality while inviting openness within. The repetitive and uniform spatial organization across floors reflects an egalitarian philosophy, symbolizing a respectful and unbiased afterlife for all, irrespective of differences during life. Here, the design emphasizes internal peace. The atrium is the primary source of ventilation and natural light, coupled with perimeter skylights that illuminate the space softly, creating a balanced, contemplative environment.
In both cases, the inherent design challenges posed by cemeteries and columbariums, particularly the need for substantial storage space, become a source of architectural exploration and strength. For the San Mauro Torinese Cemetery Extension, integrating vertical structural elements within the storage units establishes a continuous architectural mass that unifies the building across levels. In contrast, the Eternal Hill Columbarium uses a vast vertical atrium as a connective void, which counterbalances the omnipresent storage mass, linking the structure's floors through an open, spatial center. Both projects illustrate innovative ways to harmonize mass and void, interiority and exteriority, and redefine multi-level cemetery design.
Layered Spaces, Light-Filled Terraces: A Contemporary Columbarium Approach
In Hong Kong, the multi-story Diamond Hill Columbarium, designed by the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD), illustrates an innovative terracing strategy for columbarium design to balance urban density with spatial quality. This terracing approach serves two essential purposes. First, it addresses vertical circulation and public space by incorporating expansive terraces that facilitate movement and serve as outdoor public areas enriched with landscaping. These terraces allow circulation areas to be ample throughout the year, creating an accessible, open environment rather than enclosed passageways. Second, the terraces provide an experiential quality that resonates with Hong Kong's cultural traditions; visiting ancestors often involves ascending hillside burial sites. The uncovered terraces create a journey reminiscent of walking up a mountain, a common practice in Hong Kong's ancestral rites, enhancing the cultural connection within an urban framework.
With an open-plan layout and a layered terrace structure, the columbarium maximizes land use without sacrificing spatial comfort. A relatively shallow floorplate, substantial floor-to-floor heights, and extensive landscaping enhance ventilation and daylighting, mitigating common issues in multi-story buildings, such as restricted airflow and a sense of confinement. This thoughtful approach fosters a light-filled, airy environment that respects visitors' functional and emotional needs.
Additionally, the terracing approach minimizes the perceived mass of the building, easing its presence within the urban landscape. The design establishes a human-scaled interface by breaking up the building's front elevation into terraced levels, preventing the structure from overwhelming the surroundings. At the same time, a recessed, taller rectangular terraced volume extends beyond, maximizing space for columbarium niches while maintaining a balanced relationship with the street. This architectural layering connects the structure to the scale of the streetscape, achieving a harmonious blend of density, accessibility, and respect for cultural traditions in a high-density setting.
A Light Touch: Using Air Rights to Honor the Deceased
In unique cases where no land is allocated for burial grounds, architects have turned to alternative strategies that respect the deceased while addressing urban land scarcity. For example, in Santiago de Chile, Grass+Batz Arquitectos designed the Dignity Memorial Mausoleum for the homeless deceased, utilizing air rights above an existing structure to eliminate the need for any additional land. Elevated and open, the narrow, linear volume occupies the airspace of the neighborhood, creating a sense of omnipresence and respect without consuming valuable urban land. This innovative approach transforms what is typically perceived as a massive, weighty structure into a light, thin, and porous architectural form. By foregoing the usual bulk associated with above-ground cemeteries or columbariums, the Dignity Memorial Mausoleum offers a sense of levity and reverence, presenting an enduring tribute to the cityscape.
By freeing up ground space, this elevated design also allows urban land to remain available for community and street-level development, supporting a potentially vibrant, adaptable urban fabric. This unconventional approach reflects upon traditional views of burial practices, which often center on below-ground or single-story layouts. It reimagines how respect can be shown to the deceased in an integrated manner within the city, maintaining harmony with the surrounding urban environment while minimizing land costs. Through this design, the architects demonstrate how creative, spatially efficient memorials can honor those who have passed in ways mindful of urban challenges and community needs.
