Funerary journey in Llyn Brianne

The predominant themes in my work are, the concept of "giving back to the earth," the contrast between ground and sky, and enclosed vs open spaces. These concepts were derived from the process of our bodies' disintegration after our death, where we go back to our prime elements and thus, give back to the earth. I have also been inspired by ancient Greek burial sites and pre-historic monolithic forms.

Funerals are a chance for family and friends to come together, to contemplate and celebrate the passing of a loved one. The scenic landscape of Llyn Brianne facilitates a journey through the three main stages of a funerary celebration: the coming together and reunification of family and friends, the ceremony and contemplation, and the celebration with loved ones.

My proposal is composed of 3 main buildings, the dining hall and reception, the columbarium, and finally, the crematorium and ceremonial hall. These structures are connected via a long journey down the hillside of the reservoir bank which enables the users to experience the elements, intensifying their experience. Weaving through the different structures, starting at the reception and then through the columbarium, they finally arrive at the main building which features a large monolithic structure protruding out of the landscape. At the end of the celebration, the journey is continued up the hillside to the dining hall.

In order to minimise the disruption of the natural landscape, all buildings are subterranean and/or have green roofs, so that they are not visible from the passersby on the road. The only thing clearly visible from the road is the tall monolithic structure, which serves as a beacon for the funerary site.

This project had a great focus on atmosphere. In order to create something impactful, I had to listen to my instincts and work with feeling a lot. I was very passionate about this project and conducted a lot of research in parallel with designing, regarding the layout of spaces as well as different precedents which inspired me.

Overall, I think I was able to create a building which enables users to fully embrace their grief and be able to come to terms with the death of a loved one.