a2o architecten, in partnership with artist Jan De Cock, has won a competition to design a crematorium in Lommel, Belgium. The goal of the project is to integrate the crematorium into the existing cemetery, which shares the site. The design is heavily symbolic and is based off of the idea of ?the journey? of saying farewell to a loved one.

Courtesy of a2o architecten

a2o architecten, in partnership with artist Jan De Cock, has won a competition to design a crematorium in Lommel, Belgium. The goal of the project is to integrate the crematorium into the existing cemetery, which shares the site. The design is heavily symbolic and is based off of the idea of ?the journey? of saying farewell to a loved one.

Landscape Design. Image Courtesy of a2o architecten
The design keeps the existing cemetery entrance as the main access to the site, while the new crematorium will branch off of the main axis. The design relies heavily on a procession through the site, which ?takes the visitors to another world.? This path represents the idea that there is no way back, that death is a path to another chapter, and it aims to change the visitor?s perspective, while entering them into a state of humbleness.

Courtesy of a2o architecten

While the cemetery shares no religious affiliation, as it lacks religious symbols, themes of nature provide a modest spiritual presence throughout the site. The new landscape design will be a ?primordial landscape? whi...