Description

The building stands at the end of the northeast-southwest axis of a medium-sized cemetery. The crematorium itself is symmetrical about its axis. With a width of 48.96 metres, a depth of 67.2 metres and a height of 11 metres, the building is exceptionally large. The frontage is characterised by three tall recessed forecourts, two of them wide, one narrow. At the rear of each “narthex”, is a glazed plane that reaches from floor to ceiling. A slot in the concrete ceiling directs one’s gaze on ahead into the building; the entrance, how­ever, is through a sliding door to one side. The 30 by 30 metre large rectangular vestibule within the building has the dimensions of an urban square. Concrete walls enclose the hall to the northwest and southeast. Indented niches structure their surfaces. The centre of the hall is marked by a shallow circular fountain. The concrete roof is borne by 29 circular columns. A short cantilevering bracket connects each column with the roof; in all other directions, column and roof are separated by an opening. The roof plane appears to float. Arranged freely in the space, more densely towards the centre and more loosely towards the edges, the columns structure the space and at the same time allow it to be perceived as a whole. The shafts form small “clearings”; in this “forest” each group of mourners can find their own space to congregate.

From the vestibule, one can enter the ceremonial halls, two smaller halls at the front seating 50 persons and a large hall at the rear seating 250 people. When lit from inside, each of the three halls can be seen clearly from outside. Each hall consists of an inner box-like structure that is open at the front and an outer glazed envelope with metal louvres. These louvres allow the level of daylight to be controlled. The cool, light colours of the surfaces vary from grey to green to blue. The pews, the cut-out in the ceiling and the podium with the catafalque all follow the same curving arc, highlighting the front of the space where the coffin stands.

What happens before and after each ceremony is not seen by the mourners: whether the 652 storage units of the mortuary in the lower floor or what happens behind the side walls of the central vestibule. Behind each side wall of the building is a three-storey high block accommodating offices and administration spaces on one side and on the other spaces for the six furnaces. A row of three barely visible concrete-clad chimneys are the only clues to the actual incineration itself.

Although the Baumschulenweg Crematorium is characterised by the inter-penetration of space and volume, the zones have different qualities. The external courtyards and the vestibule are open to the public and serve as circulation as well as access to the rooms behind. The ceremonial halls as well as the side buildings are semi-public and for congregation and deliveries. The building’s form is inspired less by precedents from Roman or Greek Antiquity but rather by the Egyptian temple of Karnak or the mosques of Marrakesh or Córdoba.

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Originally published in: Rudolf Stegers, Sacred Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2008.