Creating peace and tranquility

The funerarium, installed within the cemetery of Jette, beside the centre of Brussels, Belgium, was the winner project of a competition organised by the local public authorities.

The request was to offer: first, a place to give a moment of reverence for the family and their deceased; then, to provide services related to the everyday life of the cemetery: office for the manager, canteen and cloakrooms for the gravediggers, public sanitary.

This funerarium is spatially divided into two interwoven volumes. The first volume was built against the existing cemetery wall and houses the administrative services and has a raised against the wall, thus offering a 360° view, and allowing sunlight to enter from the south.

The second volume consists of a large roof supported by the first volume and large wooden arcades. This covered space overlooks the cemetery and has a glass cylinder at its centre for the funeral room. The glass is covered with a silk-screen print depicting a cloud, which varies in density throughout, provides families with the necessary intimacy without obstructing the light or the view of the wooded surroundings.

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