At the Kop van Zuid development in Rotterdam I have designed a funeral home that reintroduces coming to terms with death into daily life. This aim is given form on two fronts. On the one hand by literally giving the project a place in the centre of the city. On the other by taking the needs, customs and requirements of today's multicultural society and deploying them as the starting-points for the design. The building does not, however, radiate the diversity of cultures but offers facilities that can accommodate the most prevalent rituals and traditions.

The building's architecture enters into both factors. The funeral home has an urbane character in both massing and identity and aspires to a materiality and resonance befitting a multicultural society.

The Final Place is a project in which all forms of mourning, cremation and burial converge. The project consists of four components. There is a Place of Mourning, where mourning, ritual washing and reposing figure prominently. And a Place of Leave-taking with various scenarios for taking one's leave of the deceased, where cremation is an option. There is a Burial Ground, a parklike garden that can be regarded as a refuge that respects the individuality and creativity of deceased and bereaved alike. Finally, there is a Gallery with recesses for urns and burials that enfolds the site and stitches the two buildings together.

Place of education: AvB Tilburg
Specialization: architectuur
Tutors: Pnina Avidar, Martien Jansen & Arjen Oosterman