MEMORIAL SANCTUARY OF FLUID ILLUMINATION by Hajeong Lim from usa

On a breezy day, bouncing, reflected, and expanded light, together with the comfort of shadow and the shade of trees, offer sanctuary space in the city. Integrated human remains in the building connect individuals to one another and to a larger system of nature.

The Memorial Sanctuary of Fluid Illumination is a community space for remembrance and relief of grief. The building operates in multiple layers from outside to inside. External pleated facets invite and control sunlight and grow an urban garden. The faceted inner shell bounces, reflects, and distributes light throughout the columbarium. Facets confer some degree of privacy in a public space. The atrium with the view to the sky is a sacred gathering space for memorial ceremonies with filtered light and shades through the illuminated columbarium.
Different sizes of urn cubes for different numbers of remains allow opportunities to unite departed couples, families and relatives after death. Human remains mixed with glass fiber in a transparent cube modulate light permeability and illuminate. Withdrawn remains are used after a lease period to nourish plants and flowers in and out of the building’s skin. Human remains become a part of the building environment and return to nature and the city. Human life cycles and the cycles of nature are synchronized to remind us to embrace death as part of our daily life.

Loss and grief are reflected in the density of accumulated illumination and shadow, integrated with deposits and shifts in the columbarium network. By illuminating death, The Memorial Sanctuary of Fluid Illumination brings our departed ones to us and comforts us from the fear of death and forgetting.