Inagawa Cemetery chapel and visitor centre, by David Chipperfield Architects

Photos
Keiko Sasaoka

David Chipperfield Architects’ cemetery chapel and visitor centre at Inagawa, Japan, occupies a steep site in a mountainous region north of Osaka. The terraced cemetery is bisected by a monumental flight of steps leading up to a shrine at the highest point, and the project is oriented around this axis.

“The visitor centre and chapel are designed as a marked threshold between the outer world and a quieter space within for contemplation”, says the architect. Aligned with the central staircase, and as a counterpoint to the shrine, the visitor and chapel spaces are gathered around a courtyard. Visitors approach from an exterior platform that leads to a wide, framed central opening in the stepped south-east facade. A sloping roof plane follows the view line from the entrance up to the shrine.

Following the axial link between the two ends of the site, a rill carries water down the middle of the staircase from the top of the mountain towards the building, which pools near the chapel and is diverted underground to a nearby canal.

The chapel is an unadorned and minimally-serviced room providing a non-denominational contemplative space. It received indirect sunlight from gardens on either side, drawing the attention of visitors to “the essential rhythms of time through the natural indicators of daylight fluctuation and seasonal foliage changes”, says the architect.

On the diagonally opposite corner of the courtyard is the visitor centre, which provides two large rooms at the lower end of the roof for family gatherings, and an informal lounge area for resting and eating.

The floors, walls and roof of the building “are formed as pure building elements and poured from the same earth-like red coloured concrete – honed for internal floors and ground and sandblasted for walkway walls and soffits – giving the overall structure a monolithic appearance”, says the architect.

Additional design details include a bespoke range of simple, painted wooden furniture and pleated curtains made with washi paper on fabric, which subdivide the memorial room.

The planting of all the gardens is inspired by the palettes and textures of Japanese meadows and woodlands and a selection of grasses, shrubs and wildflowers are juxtaposed.

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