A New Columbarium by Paulo from portugal

To have a resting place after death closely related to the sky in the past was only made possible for a few men, usually emperors and kings. Although in diverse cultures the concept of death is very related to the ascension towards a heaven, the lack of means resulted that only a minority could afford a representative place related to this traditional believe. In this project it is intended with a collective gesture to give an opportunity to anyone to have a dignifying place for resting after death, creating a landscape monument that emphasizes the direction towards the sky.

In conventional cemeteries, different buildings usually have different expressions. The place where the ashes are stored (columbarium) is distinguished from the graveyards. Breaking this concept and unifying both structures is the key to achieve a grandiosity that it is in its essence humble and modest.
The columbarium is designed in the middle of the cemetery to be strongly related with the graves around it. Both the graves and the places to store the cinerary urns are intended to have a similar design. Concerning the cinerary urns, the concrete blocks have a special hole that can be filled with a box containing the urns. These blocks are both places of storage and also part of the structure of the building that perform together with steel tubes, creating a non opaque interior. The building is 30 meters high. Each urn can be accessed by a interior helicoidally ramp that ends up with a panoramic view along the cemetery. Along the ramp, the guardrail’s design allows people to place flowers and candles in honour to their beloved ones.