Mourning home

CTU in Prague - Faculty of Architecture

Project idea

This project is based on a project of the multi-faith cemetery, where are answered three main topics: access to the cemetery, the boundaries between the cemeteries, facility building and the mourning home the interior design deals only with the building of the mourning home.

Project description

The Mourning home building at the multi-faith cemetery is designed to serve ceremonies of non-religious, religious, or religiously mixed rites. There is no cremation funeral in this cemetery, because it is mainly a religiously forbidden way of burial, also a new crematorium is currently being built in the neighbouring cemetery. The building is a walk-through, it follows from the way of burial. The guests meet in the foyer, then the family members bring the coffin to the catafalque in the hall where the prayers take place. Then the coffin is taken out by the back exit and lowered into the grave.
There are two halls of different capacity and different atmospheres in the building. The orientation of the entire building is set so that it is possible to perform the ceremony according to the desired orientation to the cardinal points.

Technical information

The material solution of the funeral hall is dominated by concrete. The uniqueness of the use of concrete is mainly due to its structure. The basic element of the interior is the distribution of coarse and smooth surfaces. Smooth surfaces are finished of polished concrete or brass. The roughness is determined by areas with vertical stripes. Another level of roughness is given by the profiling of columns.
The only additional material is brass. It leads us from the entrance (it is a material of window and door frames) and in the form of strips it guides through the whole building. The main accent in the foyer are two columns with a bench, both with brass finish. Daylighting dominates the building, and it is complemented by the lighting system by Flos Running Magnet. The rails create a graphics line.
Benches are made of concrete. The inner corners of the benches are rounded, and their seat surface can be heated using a resistance wire. Massive concrete benches are a fixed part of the halls. Benches will be installed during construction.