This scheme sends a peninsula thrusting into the waters of the IJ at Amsterdam. Containing a cemetery and a crematorium, the peninsula consists of a number of sloping lawns accessed from a boulevard. The leave-taking rituals and the funeral processions moving along this boulevard, the 'Ceremonial Avenue', are visible across the water to others on the quayside. All depending on the wishes of the bereaved, the grass carpet can be further filled in with memorial stones and greenery. The design takes its cue from the new attitude to funeral rites. It needs to be a place that reflects our multiform society, and where the essence of life and the personality of the deceased can find expression. This cemetery is not just a setting for fear and disconsolation but also for hope, acceptance, liberation. A place where death can be faced openly. The crematorium is planned in the existing grain silos, for which purpose these buildings are gutted leaving only the loadbearing structure - a cathedral of death marking the entrance to the cemetery. From outside and below they reveal the great void once filled with grain, a void that is in perfect keeping with the feelings of those present. Against the dramatic backcloth of the theatrical, industrial port complex of Amsterdam, the ritual of leave-taking is not only penetrating but also ingenuous, simple, everyday, self-evident. The cemetery has more than just a part to play in our memory; it is every bit an ode to those now no longer with us. Death may once more be looked full in the face; after all, what is there to hide? Institution: Amsterdam Tutors: Arie van Rangelrooij, Umberto Barbieri & Jeroen Bosch Specialization: architecture