Object_ STUDYING PROCESS AND MATERIALITY
ObjectPecha KuchaArchitectural Derivations
SITE_ HARBOURING PROCESS
CREMATION_ PROCESS
CREMATORIUM_ EMBODYING PROCESS
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Object_ STUDYING PROCESS AND MATERIALITY
“Create an object, anything you like, something which emotional ly resonates with you and comes with-out the prejudice of the controlling mind.”
This object’s aim was to provoke the senses, to be something that will make us want to smell, feel, touch... use our powers of perception.
There were no fixed rules or required methodology behind the creation of the sculpture, an open mind and inquisitive attitude were the only things necessary.
I considered the idea that the process of making the object could be integral to its final outcome, the imprint left by the process becoming the sculpture.
Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumObject
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Object State
Process
The process involved p repar ing the object, then p re serv ing one side with boiled linseed oil while r educ ing the other side to ash.
Finally the two halves of log were r eun i ted and fastened together to make a whole.
Oiling Burning Fastening
Cutting Sanding
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
P e c h a K u c h a
The object explored the idea of process and its effect on the qualities of wood.
It aimed to bring out and emphasise the sensual qualities of the material, the rich tones and grain, the strong scent of charred wood, the beautiful tonal contrast and disorder of the burnt side, the feeling of the textures on the observers hands...
The process of making the object is embodied within it, it is the imprint left by the process which provokes the sensual response and creates the emotional dischord within.
Sculptor George Peterson is interested in the chang-ing qualities of wood through process, the natural tension and drama in the material.
Shou Sugi Ban- ancient Japanese wood charring preservation technique.
Terunobu Fujimori’s Coal House, using this burnt cladding technique.
Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Sketch: birch trees
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
T h e 2 0 i m a g e s o f P e c h a K u c h a
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Photographic Explorations
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumObject
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
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A r c h i t e c t u r a l D e r i v a t i o n s
Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumObject
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumObject
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Cremation_ PROCESS
After an in-depth group discus-sion with studio peers about the potential building types that may emerge from my object studies, a crematorium was derived. The dark sombre tones of the object and the rich textures with charred wood suggested to us somewhere serious which engages with strong emotions.
The cremation process involves reducing dead bodies to gases and bone fragments through burn-ing in a furnace. It is growing ever more common as a preferred method to burial, there is no slow decomposition process and the body is diposed of immediately.
Some prefer it as it allows the fam-ily to say a final goodbye when-ever they are ready, they can keep the ashes for as long as they want before scattering them in a place important to them.
There is a memorial garden and walkway in the crematorium grounds, which people visit independently like a graveyard.
V i s i t t o M o r t o n h a l l C r e m a t o r i u mKEY NOTES
- Circulation should allow entry and exit through different places to allow flow through.- Waiting spaces for families before service.- Remembrance chapel and garden to bury urns/ashes.- Uxed by different religions.- Plenty of space needed.- Four furnaces, clad innternally in heat resistant brick.
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
The cremation process begins with the preparing of the body, removing parts which could not go into the furnace. Prosthetic limbs, metal pins, gold teeth and jewellery would be such items.
The body would then be preserved in a freezer, so as not to decompose before the service. This could be for hours, days or weeks.
When the service day arrives the body would be taken into the chapel, and then moved through into the furnace room to be cremated. It would be reduced to ashes and bone particles over an hour or two.
The bone particles are then broken down by a machine with a drum filled with metal balls, and the ashes are stored in an urn. The ashes and families are reunited when they return later to collect them.
When the family is ready they will usually cast away the ashes, the final departing.
Cremation is very common in other cultures and religions, although is approached in a different way.
For Hindus cremation is anextremely important process. It does much more than dispose of the body; it is intended to release the soul from its earthly existence. It is believed to be the most beneficial for the departed soul.
There is a large emphasis on the funeral pyre itself, it is usually outdoors for everyone to see and is almost monumental. The chief mourner circumambulates anticlockwise around the pyre before pushing it in himself.
In modern crematoria this is arrangement is not permitted and the pyre cannot be outdoors. However the sense of the pyre being a focal point and monumental in status is an interesting idea, rather thanhidden away like in many cremato-ria today.
Cremation
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P r o c e s s _ the cremation.
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Preparation _ removing metals and precious items from body.
A d i a g r a m o f p r o c e s s _
Preservation _ storing body in a freezer.
Preparat ion _ cutting, sanding, smoothing.
PROCESS _ object
PROCESS _ cremation
Preservation _ coating with linseed oil.
P r e p a r a t i o n P r e s e r v a t i o n
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Reduction _ the cremation. Reunion _ ashes returned to family. Depart ing _ after some time familites scatter the ashes.
Cremation
Reduction _ scorching wood with blow-torch.
Reunion _ rejoining of two sides. Depart ing _ weathering and breaking over time.
R e d u c t i o n R e u n i o n D e p a r t i n g
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Site_ HARBOURING PROCESS
The Sea
Edinburgh is a city by the sea, bordered along the north and north-weat by the mouth of the Forth River.
The sea has an atmosphere like no other.It interacts with the senses; the sound of therippling water or crashing waves; the smell of the sea air and seaweed; the feel of the cold wind on your skin, the feeling of soft sand beneath your feet...
It has a way of calming the mind, relaxing thoughts, bringing people away from their worries to the moment they are living in.It arouses memories, feelings and experiences you once had.
It is a landscape of emotion, and an ideal location for a place people go to say goodbye to those they have lost.
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumSite
L o c a t i o n p l a n 1 : 2 5 0 0
Bus Depot
Seafield Promenade
S i t e
Seafield Roundabout
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
C o a s t l i n e o f E d i n b u r g h 1 : 2 5 0 0 0
Harbours are a key part of the city’s coastal landscape. For hundreds of years the harbour at Leith Docks has been a place for shipbuilding and repair, and today they act as protection from the sea.
The harbour wall wraps around and provides a walkway along which people can stroll and look out to sea.
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
L e i t h D o c k s D o v e r H a r b o u r
The harbour wall is usually formed with straight lines which curve smoothly into a different angle. This provides protection from the sea in all directions. There is always a gap to allow boats in and out.
Site
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Low tide 250m
T i d e
It leaves imprints on the beach of its last arrival, which it then is reunited with at the next high tide.
The sea leaves behind memories. It washes objects and weathers them, slowly disintegrates them over time into grains of sand.
The beach undergoes a constant process of weathering by the sea.
Memories of the t ide
High Tide 12m
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Crematorium_ EMBODYING PROCESS
P r e p a r a t i o n
A crematorium is a place that leaves a strong imprint on the memory. It is a building which brings people together to celebrate and mourn the death of a loved one, a place to say goodbye and reflect on their life. It is a place filled with strong emotions.
The architecture itself can stir emotion and memories.
Provoking the senses through materiality and engagement with the natural surroundings can help to create architecture which has a denser atmosphere, a richer experience, and a greater emotional impact.
The architecture created can also symbolically represent its function.
The diagram of process derived from cremation can begin to form architectural concepts, like parameters around which the architecture begins to form. This creates a building which has arisen from the process itself, an embodiment of the cremation it harbours.
P r e s e r v a t i o n R e d u c t i o n R e u n i o n D e p a r t i n g
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
S k e t c h e s : e x p l o r i n g i d e a s
Crematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
P r e p a r a t i o n
D i a g r a m o f P r o c e s s
preparation n1. the act or process of preparing2. the state of being prepared; readiness...6. (music, other) the anticipation of a dissonance so that the note producing it in one chord is first heard in the preceding chord as a consonance
preserve v1. to maintain in safety from harm, protect.2. to keep in perfect or unaltered condition...an occurence of improvement by virtue of preventing other change.
reduction n1. the act or process or an instance of reducing2. the state or condition of being reduced5. a simplified form
Spatial preparation through materialityArchitecturalConcepts
Preserved spaces:
- Enclosed
- Warm with rich oiled wood, quiet and well sound insulated.
- No harsh conditions.
- Feeling of security and comfort.
Reduced spaces:
- Exposed
- Cold with dark charred wood, open to the sounds of the sea and nature.
- Exposed to the elements.
- No feeling of security.
- Materiality to form links between spaces; crossing spatial boundaries with materiality, eg. oiled wood of one space flowing into the charred wood of another.
P r e s e r v a t i o n R e d u c t i o n
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
The combined processes of making the object and cremation therefore creates a diagram upon which the architecture is based. This does not change the processes within the building, but influences the physical and emotional experiences throughout it for those who use the cre-matorium.
R e u n i o n D e p a r t i n g
re·un·ion n
1. the act or process of coming together again2. the state or condition of having been brought together again
de·part v. de·part·ed, de·part·ing, de·parts
1. To go away; leave.
Tidal reunion
- The sea and the building being reunited at High Tide.
- The sea actually crossing the boundaries of the building and entering the inside spaces.
Weathering
- The weathering of the building and its materiality over time.
- The sea slowly eroding the wood and staining the concrete.
- Leaving imprints of memory as the initial qualities of materials fade away.
ArchitecturalConcepts
Crematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
1110987654321 Main Chapel
1 : 2 0 0 0 L o c a t i o n P l a n
Small ChapelUrn Room
Memorial Chapel/ platformCafeteria
ReceptionStaff RoomStaff Working AreaPreparation Room/ Ash RoomFurnace Room
External Garden
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumCrematorium
1
2.
3
4
5
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8
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P l a n
0 m 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 m
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
S e c t i o n A A 1 : 2 0 0 A
A
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Platform for casting ashes out to sea
Sea enters building through central passage
Crematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
S e c t i o n B B 1 : 2 0 0
B
B
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumCrematorium
The Sea fills up around chapels behind sea wall, washing around them like pebbles or boats.
Concrete base and foundations.Timber chapel above.
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
C
CS e c t i o n C C 1 : 2 0 0 Recessed seating area with window below high tide level .
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumCrematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
P r e s e r v a t i o n a n d R e d u c t i o n
R e d u c e d
Outside, exposed to elements.
Garden, walkway to chapel, end of sea wall. Circulation space. Memorial chapel.
Inside. Charred wood and glass enclosure. Inside. Oiled wood and glass enclosure.
I n t e r m e d i a t e
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Cafeteria. Chapels and Urn Room.
Inside. Oiled and charred wood, concrete and glassenclosure.
Inside. Oiled wood, secure enclosure.
Inside. Oiled wood.
I n t e r m e d i a t e P r e s e r v e d
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Crematorium
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
The tide flows into the building through the central passage and holes in the sea wall.
The building becomes like of a collection of solids in the sea held together by the wall, like driftwood, pebbles, or boats.
Engaging with the tide
R e u n i o n
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Beach
S e a V i e w sBeach
River upstream
Fife
River opening to the sea
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Crematorium
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Perspective from previous design; Showing the way the memorial garden fades into the sea. This is the same on the right but behind a protective sea wall.
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
P e r s p e c t i v e
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Crematorium
Lewis Kelly | ESALA
B a s i c C i r c u l a t i o n L o o pAllows continuous flow through the building so that mouners don’t meet a different family on the way out.
Entry
Chapels
Urn Room(collect ion)
Memorial Chapel
Cafeteria
Sea Wall
Exit
Programme
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
Urn Room(collect ion)
Memorial Chapel
Cafeteria
Crematorium Spaces are close to each other to allow ease of access and let the process run smoothly.
C o f f i n C i r c u l a t i o n S t a f f C i r c u l a t i o n
EntryEntry
Preparation Room/Cold Store
Staff Room/Reception
Perparation Room/ Cold Store/ Ash reduction Room
Office Space/ Cremation Control
Chapels
Furnace Room Furnace Room
Crematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
Approach
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumCrematorium
Memorial Chapel
(Unaltered)
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
The relationship between the external and internal sides of the objects created an interesting boundary condition, an inspiration for the lighting within the chapels.
pm am
C h a p e l S p a c e s
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Object | Cremation | Site | CrematoriumCrematorium
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Lewis Kelly | ESALA
H a r b o u r W a l l
The sea wall wraps around the building as if holding the volumes inside, seeming to tie them together.
It forms the circulation for the mouners after the service, and opens to them sea views, spaces to sit and contemplate, and a peaceful walk after the intense experience of the crematorium.
It forms a boundary which is crossed by circulation and projecting spaces, and the tide which ebbs and flows beneath its inhabitable walkway.
Movement back to the reduced
The walkway takes people from inside to outside along its length, moving from inward focussed darker space to outward looking light-filled spaces, and finally taking people back out to the promenade.
It prepares the users for the moment of re entering the rreal world, like a passage of peace and nature between life and death.
SEA
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Object | Cremation | Site | Crematorium
P e r s p e c t i v e S e c t i o n 1 : 1 0 0
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