Funeral Stoa

2016, EPFL

In collaboration with Christophe Gautier and Noé Waller

Professors: Marco Bakker, Alexandre Blanc, Pauline Seigneur.

At the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers in Lyon, a long and narrow strip of land stretches out, gradually disappearing under the two-colored waters. The project consists of converting this space into a place of mourning adding to the two existing cemeteries in the city.

In continuity of the terrain would be a space of exhibition, with arches, where funerary urns would be displayed for a duration of four weeks. A wide staircase facing the Rhône would serve at the same time as a place of meditation and as an esplanade, from where to scatter the ashes of the deceased.

This project also studies the notion of rite, through architecture and object-oriented design. The funerary urn, after having been displayed in the building, is meant to be broken on the steps in order to let the ashes scatter in the waters.