Competition Award: Crematorium for the Municipality of Patra

workcase

In this proposal, at a first glance, it is not a building that is viewed, but a monumental Gate standing inside a garden. Hints of the building are given through a downward route, from the Gate towards a long split on the ground surface.   The central idea refers to the concept of Gate as a passage from the secular reality to the realm of the dead. In this way a symbolic place is created that lets the plot almost intact forming a garden corresponding to Eden. The Gate acts as a signal and it also gives meaning to its surroundings, creating a field around it which calls you to pass through.   The building is hidden below the ground (subterranean with planted roof) and it is connected to the gate through a staircase and an elevator. The different crematorium parts and functions are taking place across an axial atrium that breaks the ground continuity and lets the light pass through. It is a long water surface, a reminder of river Acheron. Along the water edge, an arcade is created, hosting the route of the visitors and connecting the different parts of the complex.