A Necessary Reminder
Owase Funerary Complex
During a period in which rapid population decline has degraded Japanese attitudes towards death, companionship, and tradition, this project reminds the people of Owase, Japan, that a funerary complex, as a civic infrastructure, can coexist with public space. It rejects current approach to utilitarian and “high-tech” graves and instead, proposes a funerary complex in which traditional and ritualistic values are upheld, ecological waste is minimized, lateral expansion is challenged, and the tragic epidemic of kodokushi (“lonely death”) is mitigated.
The Funerary complex is
located in the semi-rural city of Owase in Japan’s Mie Prefecture. Perhaps most
well known for the Ise-Shrine, Mie is between Nara to the east and Kyoto to the
west. Owase is a coastal town nestled between a mountain range on three sides
and open to the Pacific on the last. Owase is
experiencing one of the worst effects of population decline in the country.
Like other rural towns, there is little incentive for the young to remain. The
best schools, entertainment, jobs, and opportunities are all located in the
cities. The draining of young Japanese people away from the rural towns have
had serious social-economic problems leading to countless businesses to close,
infrastructure to fail, and tradition to be forfeited.
The
funerary complex will be comprised of three separate buildings ( a temple of
light, a water crematorium, and a wooden columbarium) united by a garden
that is fertilized from the remains of the dead in an effort to bring solace to
those who endured a lonely life.
Japan
exists as a paradoxically harmonious balance between modernism and
traditionalism. The materials used in Japan today are evocative of either of
these ideals. Mainly: Wood vs. Concrete. These are the two primary materials
used in the complex to reflect this dualism. These materials also extend into a
poetic connection with the ideas surrounding death and life. The durable
quality of concrete reflects permanence and legacy which is why it is exhibited
most prominently in the Temple housing those who are alive. Inversely, wood is more
ephemeral and easily destroyed representing the idea of impermanence and
fragility. Wood is the primary construction material for the columbarium.
With
respect to tradition, the strategy for the project echoes Tadao Ando’s principle
that: The materials used for the funerary complex will be used to evoke the essence of Japanese
architecture rather than to make literal references to traditional motifs. It
is engaged in a search for more abstract qualities like shadows, wabi-sabi, and
melancholy.
After an
individual has passed, he or she will first be brought to the temple for a
mourning ceremony. After which, the individual will be cremated using a new
method called Alkaline Hydrolysis, commonly referred to as “water cremation”.
With this process, little to no harmful chemicals are produced from the
byproduct, the bones are left behind allowing for ritual bone sorting, and
the byproduct can be used as fertilizer. Portions of the ashes can be
used as such and the remaining ashes will be stored in the columbarium
according to the individual’s wishes.
In the
center of this dense semi-rural town rises a humble hill onto which the
funerary complex will take its form.
Visitors
anticipate
the temple as
they follow the
procession up
the steps to the
site.Here, family
and close friends
congregate,
mourn, and pay their final
respects before
cremation.The elliptic
plan for the
crematorium
centers the
cremation
chamber and facilitates
the burning
ceremony, while
maximizing
privacy.Alkaline
hydrolysis
preserves bone
sorting while
limiting
bio-hazardous
waste and
creating nutrient
rich ash for
fertilization.The ashes
can be used
as fertilizer for
the garden.
By
offering a place
to rest, shared by
people in similar circumstances,
and in a garden
so beautiful,
these people who suffered in
life may rest in equanimity.
Traditional Japanese funerary visit rituals.
Common Japanese gravestone typologies.
The urn
for this Funerary Complex takes its cues from traditional Japanese gravestones.
The most important aspect of this design was allowing for the ritualistic
cleaning of the gravestones to be preserved. Thus the urns are made from
granite much like the gravestones. Urns are
organized vertically based on family lineage- the oldest member occupying the
topmost shelf. Because the columbarium has no roof and maintaining the
cleanliness of the stones are essential, the pyramid shape of the urns allow
for water to trickle down from one stone to another so that those urns can remain clean in the absence of visitors.
Temple of LightWater CrematoriumWooden Columbarium
West facing
clerestory allows
light to stream into
the crematorium while ensuring
privacy from the
Temple.Stair-landing
allows a view back
to the city.Many homes are
left empty as the population quickly
diminishes.