JOSEPH KYLE
Art I Design
Burial Space
This is the second design project I completed for the DIS semester architecture program in Copenhagen, Denmark. My assignment was to create a funerary space at the end of along tree–lined alley in Copenhagen’s Vestre Cemetery.
My funerary space is designed to create a gentle, step–by–step mourning process by providing visitors with three distinct areas of mourning. The long, tree–lined approach acts as the first mourning space by allowing visitors time to mentally prepare for saying goodbye. The second space, which sits below ground, focuses on grief and the physical body. The third and final space gives visitors time for contemplation and acceptance. Each primary space not only holds a different quality of light, material and atmosphere, but is separated by a physical transition – first, visitors descend below the surface, then through a narrow passageway, and finally back above ground. These distinctions are important, for they move visitors through the grieving process.
After descending again down along, widening path, visitors arrive at the third mourning space. Whereas the previous room gave visitors an individual experience with the body, this congregation space brings the community of mourners upward through a central, ivy–filled skylight. Contemplation, togetherness and acceptance are the primary functions of this space. When visitors are ready, they may make the gradual ascent back to the outside world. When they reach ground–level, the journey is over.
Visitors descend down a dark, narrowing passageway to arrive at the second mourning space, which provides visitors with an honest, intimate and uninterrupted experience with the body. Its concave walls focus all attention on the body’s silhouette, while narrow skylights provide gentle, ambient natural light in an otherwise dimly–lit space. Visitors will become conscious of their own bodies when they hear their footsteps on the gravel floor. This room is designed for safety within the grieving process. Only when the visitor is ready will they part from the space. The goodbye is gentle.
