The project is a Multi-faith cemetery whose intent and design are based upon core aesthetic, volumetric, phenomenological, and ritualistic principles in an attempt to understand the cohesive inter-relationship between faith and sacred architecture. The Design aims to simplify the basic interpretation of volumes for the four faiths involved, namely Hinduism, Islam, Christianity & Zoroastrianism with the help of narratives that transform the cemetery into a memorial. The objective is to create encounters, impressions, and a narrative through various intangible and sacred phenomena in perfect harmony with physical volumes. Repetitive and subtly relatable elements of form and processes, minimum characterization, and volumetric narratives aid in framing a familiarized space that in turn eliminates the taboo and uncertainty behind the process of death. Instead, the space tends to compliment the sublime and sacred nature of the event.
The Design intends to give birth to serene narrative environments. A Multi-faith Cemetery becomes an unusually beautiful case. A space that identifies holy perimeters where the soul coalesces with the celestial vastness. Pure forms illustrate ritualistic, sacred and spatial margins and become the mediums of exchange.
The fact that death is to be dealt with as an initiation for memory, and not as the end of all that is physical, is a key train of thought that can indeed bring about a change in perception of such spaces and precincts today. Smaller landscapes are utilized to generate a bigger context altogether.
The design treats these landscapes as pavilions that do not appear physically exclusive. Pavilion 1 is the Hindu crematorium, Pavilion 2 acts as the Islamic complex on the site, pavilion 3 caters to the Christian faith & Pavilion 4 aligns with the Zoroastrian faith and its beliefs. Along with the spaces that are exclusively dictated by the rituals of each faith, A metaphorical aggregation occurs at the Museum of memories or Pavilion 0. This volume isn’t a forced imposition of space but instead a space that is accessible by choice as an organic development of transitions, then a crafted consequence. The digital memorial inside the Pavilion allows the user to experience the accumulated/submitted digital footprint left behind by the departed. Pavilion 0 receives its elevations from the already tangible volumes that mark its surroundings. In order to preserve the relevance of the same, the built form is unbuilt, underground and absent from the line of vision.