Crematorium

Kyushu Island, Japan

Architect: Fumihiko Maki

My third precedent, a contemporary example taken from the Japanese tradition, is Fumihiko Maki's Crematorium on Kyushu Island. Maki, here, takes the process of a highly ritualized commonly practiced ceremony, namely cremation, and manifests it architecturally. This process begins with a farewell service, and closes with the enshrinement of the deceased ashes.

1. Porte cochere
2. Forecourt
3. Entry porch
4. Oratory
5. Crematory
6. Enshrinement room
7. Courtyard
8. Waiting area
9. Office
10. Funeral hall
11. Park

Travelling through the building, the visitor undergoes a procession marked by a series of experiences and rooms, which mark the ceremony's various stages. Residual, transitional spaces in between to allow him/her to pause, reflect, and proceed to the next stage (plan). The prevailing atmosphere, however, remains gloomy as a symbol of death and decay.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPEL OF ST.IGNATIUS

Seattle University, USA

Architect: Steven Holl

 

1. Procession
2. Narthex
3. Baptistry
4. Blessed Sacrament Chapel
5. Choir
6. Altar
7. Reconciliation Chapel
8. Bride's room
9. Vesting sacristy
10. Reflecting pool
11. Bell tower

 

The fourth and final sacred precedent is Steven Holl's Chapel of St. Ignatius. A slender bell tower marks the approach to the chapel. The processional route begins outside of the chapel, with a rectangular green to its south, and continues up a subtly sloped ramp alongside a shallow reflecting pool. However, the box characterized by "seven bottles of light" remains mysterious and concealed.
The interior, with its intensely coloured glass lenses, shocks the visitor. Here, each "bottle of light" corresponds to a liturgical space, highlighting the episodic nature of the path through the chapel. The path is perhaps best described in section, which displays how each space is defined volumetrically and oriented to yield a certain light quality (sections).