PaperBurningSpaceRecallSpaceRelicStorageSpace

Concept Generation

Main Entrance

Public Hall

The public space can function as a cemetery service center, which is also an access leading to more private mourning area on the lower floor. This floor gives an emotional buffer for people. Whether it is people who just come in or are about to leave, they can all take a rest, chatting with their families to adjust their emotions. In addition, different mourning activities can be organized for people.

In Chinese myth, people will cross the NaiRiver after passing away, and then they will enter into a post-mortem world to start a new life, so water is considered as the boundary of life and death in China.

The pool is used to separate the real world and the underground. People can enter the cemetery by walking along the pathway while passing through the pool and chimney, or enter the main entrance of the building to reach the underground space via the slope next to the pool.

Material: White marble and dark concrete create a serious and melancholy atmosphere in the space, while the brown color of the concrete flooring gives a sense of closeness.

Paper Burning Space

The paper burning space consists of five concrete chimneys, representing the five elements of all life in Chinese culture. People can show their grief for the deceased ones by burning paper money at the bottom of the chimney according to customs. Also, this can largely avoid any hidden hazard of forest fire in the cemetery.

Staircase & Patio

The triangular spiral staircase is used to communicate with the main space of the building. This not only echoes the exterior of the building, but also saves space. Considering the B2 and B3 floors are high, in addition to the small rest platforms at the corners, a longer rest platform is set up as a buffer in the middle of each floor. People can rest on the platform or look out from the

Bamboo symbolizes life in Chinese culture. It can create an atmosphere of solemnity, gradually soothing people's emotions after entering the building.

Red spider lily, also called resurrection lily in China, grows alongside the Hell-River and leads to the underworld in folktale. It can guide the dead, evoke their memories before they passed away, and make the dead reborn in the underworld. And the flower can also comfort the grieving family.

Relic Storage Space

The relic storage space is designed as an oval shape to avoid obvious edges and corners, so as to soften the space atmosphere. This is to ease people's sadness. The oval wall avoids a primary and secondary spatial relation, indicating that life is equal. Grids for storing relics are installed onto the wall, and people can store the belongings of the deceased in line with the custom.

A tree is planted in the middle of the space and a patio is set at the top to let the sunlight shine in, injecting a touch of vitality to the entire space. Meanwhile, sunshine and growing tree symbolize rebirth, and will thus comfort the people inside who are grieving.

The Corridor

Two corridors are derived from the main space, one of which connects the recall space, and the other the relic space. Due to the functional differences from both the paper burning space and the mourning space, the emotions that people may generate can be largely different. Therefore, two different forms of corridors are utilized to connect the two spaces, so that people can feel their emotional changes.

Light Analysis

Black cardboard is used to make a rectangular carton to simulate the corridor. On the top, different shapes of openings are cut to simulate the corridor lighting of three modes.

Recall Space

In the cemetery, people can only honor their memory of the deceased hastily in front of the tombstone. Since there is rarely no privacy outdoors, their sorrow and grief cannot be vented fully.

Branches

In the corridor leading to the relic space, 8 branches of different lengths are set up to symbolize the four stages of life: childhood, adulthood, middle age, and old age, which are divided by stairs; when passing through each stage, people can see two completely different scenes, which represent the human world and nether world respectively. With these branches and downward stairs, people can feel the depressive emotions while passing through the corridor. Those emotions will swing along the change of space, and will eventually be released when people reach the relic space.

The recall space is designed to have several rectangular spaces with different heights, representing people's pieces of memory. People come here alone or in groups, sobbing alone or telling past stories to their children, in order to let out the sadness in their hearts.

Enter To The Moon

A Retail Of Akari Lamp In Ny

Aakari gives the image of sunlight iand moonlight pouring out into a room.

---Isamu Noguchi

The inspiration for this space comes from noguchi's desire to simulate moonlight through Akari, thereby creating a warm and hazy space. In Japanese culture, there are a lot of poetry describing moonlight, but what is interesting is that poets usually do not directly describe moonlight, but express the softness of moonlight through other objects.

This coincides with Noguchi's work to a large extent. By studying Noguchi’s sculptures, three concepts suitable for expressing this space are summarized, namely: Height, Enclose, and Hide.

Concept Driver

月さすや谷をさまよふ蛍どち ——原石鼎

Moonlight in the valley, Flowing fireflies are hesitating.

Moonlight and Clound

Moonlight in nature

----Sekitei Hara cloud cover the moon cloud shade the moon

Noguchi came up with a logo for Akari that combined a stylized sun and crescent moon like the ideograph it is based on （明）. The ideograph became synonymous with Akari, featured on the early envelopes and packaging and in the form of a red stamp at the base of each lantern.

Inspration of Noguchi sculpture cloud under the moon

Diagram

Deconstruction of Akari

Akari = Weightlessness + Illumination

Making process

Elements box container washi paper illumination metal stick structure structure paper tools

Design language | washi paper

Cocept Diagram

Visible & Invisible

Hide

Height change

Hight & Display

Height change Enclose

Thickness & Perception of light

Washi paper Assemblies

Design language | box

Kirei Board | modulize

Function

Storage

Mountable

Combination

Joint

Storage

Mountable

Random combination

Axonometric explode drawing

restroom with ADA ceiling steel beams & petition girder backyard educated movable shoji screen petition bookshelves modularized furniture retail cafe book sale

Circulation