Japan. David Chipperfield completes a contemplative building in red

The chapel and the visitor centre for Inagawa Cemetery sit on a steep site in the Hokusetsu Mountain Range of Hyogo prefecture.

David Chipperfield Architects London, Inagawa Cemetery chapel and visitor centre, Hokusetsu Mountain Range, Hyogo prefecture, Japan, 2017

David Chipperfield Architects completes the chapel and visitor centre for Inagawa Cemetery in the Hokusetsu Mountain Range of Hyogo prefecture. The new building is conceived as an aggregation of contemplative spaces under a single sloping roof, which composition is defined by the terraced site.

The cemetery sits on a steep site, looking upwards to the shrine: the monumental flight of steps constitutes the axis that connects the two. This geomerty determines the arrangement of the rooms of the new building, which are distributed all around the central courtyard. The result is connoted by a sense of abstraction enhanced by the choice of the materials. The monolithic appearance of the volumes is the result of the combination of poured earth-like red concrete and the sharpness of the details.

Project:
Inagawa Cemetery chapel and visitor centre
Program:
cemetery extension
Location:
Hyogo prefecture, Japan
Architects:
David Chipperfield Architects London
Project Architect:
Matt Ball, Tom Herre
Lighting:
Viabizzuno Srl
Landscape architect:
Marcia Iwatate + Kamimura Landscape Architects
Structures:
Jun Sato Structural Engineering
MEP - Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering:
ES Associates
Contractor:
Obayashi Corporation
Associate architect:
Key Operation Inc. / Architects
Project manager:
Naoko Kawamura
Area:
500 sqm
Completion:
2017

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