Kaze-no-Oka Crematorium in Japan

There is no end to the breath-taking variety of crematorium designs around the world, and we haven’t looked at one on SevenPonds in quite a while. This stunning crematorium by Maki and Associates in Japan offers a space for reflection. Kaze-no-Oka Crematorium’s fluid lines blend almost naturally into the surrounding landscape, which includes an ancient burial mound and a cemetery.

The building’s design emphasizes what the designers call “transitional spaces,” wherein the functional rooms are spaced with some distance between one another in order “to allow for pause and reflection.” Between the funeral hall, the cemetery and the waiting lounge, visitors can take time to mourn and remember those they’ve lost and to ponder the end-of-life experience.

The variety of materials used to construct the crematorium — brick, Cor-ten steel, and concrete — combined with its varying geometry, lend to the structure the feel of a “sculpture in the park.”

You can find the full architectural details at Maki’s website.

Images courtesy of Maki and Associates.