On Sunday 17 October 2021, you can visit 'Crematorium Uitzicht' in Kortrijk during 'Dag van de Architectuur'.
Because of its location on the edge of the city, the Kortrijk High Cemetery looks nothing like a traditional cemetery. Here there are no narrow paths and graves, stones and trees, but a park that blends seamlessly into the landscape. The crematorium itself fits in perfectly with the geometry of the site, half underground in relation to the roadway, and also blends into the landscape. The building has emphatically horizontal lines. The massive chimney, in all its verticality, stands directly opposite it, as a kind of counterpoint, a mark.
A gentle slope leads the visitor through the patio to the actual building. First, you find the foyer with a framed view of the landscape, then the auditorium, where natural light from the ceiling descends at the level of the ceremony area. You leave the building again via a narrow walkway with a view of the landscape, which accompanies you all the way to the ceremonial building. The subdued atmosphere is characteristic, with natural transitions between intimacy and open space, between the naked concrete formwork outside and the sober but warm materials inside.
More information on: festivalvandearchitectuur.be/programma/dag-van-de-architectuur-crematorium-uitzicht/
Client: Psilon, crematoriumbeheer Zuid-West-Vlaanderen
Concept: Souto de Moura Arquitectos Lda - SumProject
In collaboration with: AfaConsult (structure), Ingenium sa/EPB-SCT (HVAC), Daidalos Peutz (building physics), Dirk Vandekerkhove (landscape), Antea (ovens and filters)
