Funerary building in Szczecin. Problems of contemporary burial sites.

Warsaw University of Technology, (Politechnika Warszawska), Faculty of Architecture, Warszawa

Project idea

Funerary architecture has changed over the centuries. This was largely due to due to the subject matter of the perception of death, which had a significant impact on the formation and location of necropolises. Modern trends affecting burial forms are losing the social dimension of death. In response to the current problems, the purpose of the work became to analyze the elements that will allow the restoration of the sacred dimension of the in funerary objects.

According to many theorists, the cemetery is an image of the living, not the dead. It plays a huge role as a public space connecting the sacred and profane zones. In fact, it is the only place that connects the two zones: life and death, which intertwine and enter into dialogue with each other.

Today, as a society, we are struggling with the strong individualization of activities related to related to burial and a misunderstanding of the need to undergo proper mourning. As sacred beings, as Mircea Eliade says, we need a bearer of grief and loss, a space that encourages us to face the past and wander through it. The designed building takes the form of a guide, like Virgil in Dante's "Divine Comedy." It guides the participant through loss and the emotions that accompany mourning.

A key element in thinking about the project was the choice of plot, due to the desire to introduce a symbolic character, it became important to focus on the cemetery as a concept of "garden for the living." The choice of location fell on the largest necropolis located in Poland - the Central Cemetery in Szczecin. Its form refers to the former park and landscape assumptions. The most important element is the historical axis of the establishment, on which the designed object is located.

Christopher Alexander, in his statements about sacred spaces, mentions the about the need for gradations of intimacy until we reach the sacred center. These elements stem from human psychology. An additional asset that introduces psychological comfort is the fact that ceilings are reduced the more intimate the room. This thought became the guiding idea that shaped the body of the building. The "sacred axis", referring to ancient ancient layouts, also stands out in the premise of the entire building. The narrative in the building was contained, among other things, in the sequentiality of rooms, placed directly on the axis. By creating a series of rooms, with varying degrees of intimacy and privacy, everyone has the opportunity to individually experience their own path of farewell.

Due to the purpose of the building as a sacred place, a number of universal symbols that have been contained in human consciousness for centuries have been incorporated into the building. The main symbol that has become key to the design of the building is light. It serves as a guide to emotions and a key ornament of the building. The intensity of the light is a reflection of the various emotions that accompany mourning. Starting from pain and suffering, when we are mainly surrounded by darkness, to regaining hope for a better tomorrow - these emotions are already accompanied by more and more light.

The designed spaces are characterized by simplicity and minimalism. Their form is based on simple solids, light whitewashed walls that shimmer with chiaroscuro introduced into the interior.

The designed architecture is intended to be a form of "tabula rasa" - it serves as both the final stage and the beginning of the road ahead. It is undoubtedly an exit stage, but a necessary one on the way forward. The light that forms on the clean, monumental walls is the only changeable element during the day. It shows that regardless of events and what happens in our lives, everything around us continues to go on. The world has not stood still, and we have to move on, as if we were starting to write further history on new, clean pages.

Project description

The facility's program consists of a courtyard with columbariums, a universal chapel with creating functions, a section with coffin display rooms, cold storage rooms and body preparation rooms, as well as administrative and landscape sections. Each part is clearly distinguished in the site plan. In addition, each part can be entered through a separate entrance, so that the paths inside the building do not intersect. Meditation chapels located among rich vegetation have been composed in the landscape.

The above-ground part of the building is distinguished by the higher parts intended for the main chapel and the hall for the display of the deceased. The main entrances to the site were located on the eastern side of the building. One is located on the axis of the entire cemetery establishment. The axis is determined by the View Avenue, which continues through the designed path and leads the observer directly to the courtyard with columbaria. The direction of movement through the building is intuitive, mainly due to the fact that all the most important rooms have been located on the axis of the facility.

The building has been designed to continue the axis of the existing establishment, rather than just being the culmination of it. It is possible to open all the doors on the axis so that the entire building can be seen across.This is meant to symbolize the constant connection to nature and the connection of man to the universe.The building is to create only an addition to the landscape, and not dominate it.The desire to preserve the existing axis of the cemetery was the starting point for the design of individual rooms and zones.In addition, the desire for easy movement through the facility and the possible lack of crossing paths during different funeral scenarios became the essence.

Technical information

A two-story object (one underground, the other above ground) covered with a flat roof. The object has a uniform, compact form. It is formed by rooms for those bidding farewell to the deceased, along with administrative and auxiliary parts. A ramp road leads to the building. In addition, part of the establishment consists of three meditation chapels, located on the north side of the of the building. The elevations were made of solid, hand-formed, lime-painted facing bricks.

The structural layout was subordinated entirely to the functional layout of the building. The building was designed in a mixed wall-and-slab and column-and-slab construction with reinforced concrete ceilings poured on site. Above the chapel, a T-T type prestressed ceiling has been designed.

The material used in the design is one of the most important elements of the building. Based on the query of examples that took place in the analysis part, it can be deduced how important the use of material becomes in an object with a sacred and narrative character. Minimalist explorations in the body, form of the object and the material from which it is made, become a response to the to the desire to silence and isolate the viewer from external stimuli. Architecture in the case of narrative space is to act as a background for events and light play.

Solid face brick, obtained from various nearby brick factories, was chosen as the material. The essence of the choice of this material is to obtain only hand-formed bricks, but also demolition bricks. As a result, the facade will not form a homogeneous wall, and each brick will be unique in its form. The rough and heterogeneous material often provides an impulse to touch it. As Edward Hall wrote , such an impulse to touch the material deepens the spatial experience. The selected brick will eventually be painted with lime, mainly to give it a light, uniform color. The chosen color will serve as a background for the vegetation there, and thus will be visible in the space. White is often seen by artists as a color that expresses silence and stillness.

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