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Location

Zonnebeke

Client

Municipality of Zonnebeke

Contest

Laureate Funeral Award 2007

Exhibition

Town Hall Zonnebeke, 24/09/2007-04/11/2007

Rehabilitation and expansion of Zonnebeke cemetery

For the redesign of the cemeteries of Zonnebeke, I chose an overall vision articulated as the “cube formation. Cubic columbarium niches were placed in each cemetery (Zonnebeke, Beselare, Passendale and Geluveld), albeit each in a different context. A creative solution on cremation that proves it can be done differently. In the designs, the deeply human prevails over the merely functional. This deeply human aspect is expressed not only in the columbarium itself, but also in the scattering meadows, which are planted in the most prominent location, facing the landscape. This creates a place, a space, that can offer the mourner a sense of “hope. In addition, the deeply human is certainly reflected in the connection between the old and new parts of the cemetery. A green “lifeline” there makes a connection between old and new, between life and death. The redesign of these four cemeteries proves that within our profane world, spiritual landscape architecture has a right to exist again. The cemeteries of Zonnebeke are not merely cemeteries, but “burial and contemplation gardens,” where the bereaved can feel, just for a moment, a little closer to their deceased loved ones.

Photos realization

Findings

Hi Andy, I just went to check out the cemetery at Zonnebeke. I still found the most typical and symbolic was the long, first uphill “path” and then literally over the hill, the long unending road! So straight and green, in the middle of a gray rainy environment. You basically leave your signature everywhere, positively and discreetly. Very nice!

Henk Claeys