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BDR Architekci clads columbarium in Poland with pale sandstone
CategoriesArchitecture

BDR Architekci clads columbarium in Poland with pale sandstone

By Zarkon Group,

Pale sandstone walls bring a “warm and welcoming” feel to this columbarium in a cemetery in Radom, Poland, which has been completed by local studio BDR Architekci.

Located in the centre of Radom Municipal Cemetery – one of the largest cemeteries in Poland – the columbarium has 2,000 storage niches for funeral urns, organised across six chambers that surround a central open-air chapel.

The chambers are enclosed by sandstone-clad walls of varying heights and designed by BDR Architekci to provide space for “peaceful reflection” without religious references.

Plan view of cemetery in Poland by BDR ArchitekciPlan view of cemetery in Poland by BDR Architekci
The columbarium comprises six chambers organised around an open-air chapel

“We tried not to refer to symbolism or look for metaphors,” BDR Architekci co-founder Konrad Basan told Dezeen.

“We focused on the function, the material, the proportions. We wanted to build a place open to people, full of greenery, with its own structure and order,” Basan added.

The site is accessible from all directions in the cemetery, with paved routes weaving between each of the chambers and around curved areas of planting.

Six chambers of the columbarium complex in Radom, PolandSix chambers of the columbarium complex in Radom, Poland
The chambers provide 2,000 niches for the storage of funeral urns

In each of the open-topped chambers, four walls filled with niches surround a central space with trees and a bench. There is also an opening leading to the central chapel.

“Creating such a large columbarium required space organised in a clear and welcoming way,” said Basan. “That’s why we divided such a large burial area into six smaller chambers, giving it a sense of intimacy.”

Open-air chapel in Radom, Poland, by BDR ArchitekciOpen-air chapel in Radom, Poland, by BDR Architekci
Openings in each chamber lead to the central chapel

Built with a concrete structure, the pale sandstone cladding of the complex was selected due to its locality to Radom and its use on the facades of many important buildings in the city.

Alongside the new chambers, BDR Architekci also clad an existing 1980s pre-burial house with matching sandstone to unify it with the rest of the complex.

“We wanted it to be warm and welcoming, but also for the stonemasons’ craftsmanship to be evident in the way it was cut and laid,” explained Basan.

“As a result, the columbarium clearly contrasts with polished black marble tombstones [in the surrounding cemetery],” he continued.

Enclosed chamber at columbarium complex in PolandEnclosed chamber at columbarium complex in Poland
Each chamber is also finished with trees and a bench

In the open-air chapel, a wall features a verse from The Laments by the Renaissance author Jan Kochanowski who lived nearby.

“The only element that was consciously designed to carry any specific message was the use of a quote from lament number eight,” explains Basan.

“It seems that the columbarium is a suitable background not only for it but particularly for the course of a funeral,” he said.

Niches found at columbarium by BDR ArchitekciNiches found at columbarium by BDR Architekci
Sandstone was chosen for the cladding due to its locality to the site

BDR Architekci was founded in 2015 by Basan, Paweł Dadok and Maria Roj and is based in Warsaw.

Other cemetery projects featured on Dezeen include a visitor centre for the Netherlands American Cemetery by Kaan Architecten and a ceremonial hall at Longshan Cemetery in China.

The photography is by Jakub Certowicz.

Project credits:

Architect: BDR Architekci
Team: Konrad Basan, Paweł Dadok, Maria Roj, Michał Rogowski
Investor: Municipality of Radom
Structural engineer: TMJ Projekt
Services engineer: Joanna Szczudlik
Electrical engineer: Jarosław Maleńczyk
Landscape architect: La.Wa Architektura Krajobrazu, Łukasz Kowalski

Reference

Finnish Pavilion “declares the death of the flushing toilet”
CategoriesSustainable News

Finnish Pavilion “declares the death of the flushing toilet”

By Zarkon Group,

A Finnish huussi, or composting toilet, has been built in the centre of the country’s pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, which aims at critically exploring the world’s unsustainable approach to sanitation.

Declaring the “death of the flushing toilet as we know it” the pavilion, called Huussi – Imagining the Future History of Sanitation, was designed by The Dry Collective – a group of architects, designers and artists, and curated by Arja Renell.

Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023
The Finnish Pavilion is called Huussi – Imagining the Future History of Sanitation

The project is a response to the theme of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, The Laboratory of the Future, curated by Lesley Lokko and asking participants to consider what it means for architects to be “agents of change”.

Finland’s display begins with a mock archaeological excavation of a typical flushing toilet – responsible for 30 per cent of domestic water use in developed economies – in the grounds of the Alvar Aalto-designed pavilion, symbolically consigning it to the distant past.

Internal shot of the Finnish Pavilion by The Dry Collective
It explores the world’s unsustainable approach to sanitation

“We cannot live on a planet where billions of people use rapidly diminishing fresh water resources to flush their waste,” said curator Arja Renell.

“The whole system needs to change,” she continued. “A shift will come as we begin to see our waste as a valuable resource, and transition to treating it as such.”

Composting toilet surrounded by CLT panels
The pavilion features a composting toilet

Inside the pavilion, a cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure contains a domestic-scale huussi, surrounded by wooden planters that have been fertilised using human urine-based fertiliser.

While the huussi toilet cannot be used by visitors during the biennale, it will afterwards be donated to VERAS, a local non-profit organisation that owns an agricultural part and allotments on the nearby Venetian island of Vignole.

Accompanying the huussi is a fictional documentary film set in the year 2043 demonstrating the “absurdity” of our current attitude to sanitation and waste, along with other video works presenting information about alternative sanitation solutions.

“We want to share the domesticity and utility of the Finnish huussi to inspire a dialogue about the state of what is possible… what considerations become critical, and how will solutions vary in different parts of the world?” said Renell.

“Huussi inspires and invites all professionals to start looking for alternative solutions which would better serve the world we inhabit today,” she continued.

Screens showing a documentary film at the Finnish Pavilion
Accompanying the huussi is a fictional documentary film

The Finnish Pavilion is one of several that will be opened exclusively on Dezeen during the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. Other pavilions that were seen first on Dezeen include the Danish pavilion, which focuses on rising Sea levels and the US pavilion that aims to question plastic dependency.

The photography is by Ugo Carmeni.

Dezeen is live reporting from the Venice Architecture Biennale, which takes place from 20 May to 26 November 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Reference