UPD 2014-18-12: Sebastian Bern became the winner of the competition with the project "Tombstone to the Past".
Funerary architecture is practically forgotten in our time. Undeservedly - decided the organizers of the competition - the London Museum of John Soane and the company Bompas & Parr - and invited the architects to reflect on this difficult but eternal theme. In response, more than 120 works were received, and the imagination of their authors is simply amazing: imagine the mausoleums in the form of a giant tennis ball, a monolithic construction from a children's Lego construction set, a huge sock or a neon sculpture! Some participants focused on the tombstones of specific famous people, moreover, quite healthy people, for example, Kanye Westu and Kim Kardashian (separately! - the organizers emphasize). Several objects at once were designed for gradual slow self-destruction.
Out of all this riot of ideas, Bompas & Parr has selected 24 of the most interesting concepts and presented them to a serious and representative jury. It includes Bompas & Parr partner Sam Bompas, John Soane Museum Director Abraham Thomas, Cancer Center Director Maggie Laura Lee, architecture critic Douglas Murphy, architect Sam Jacob, as well as palliative care experts and even a bricklayer from the famous Highgate Cemetery.
The ten finalist works will be 3D printed models and exhibited at the John Soane Museum in London. The place was not chosen by chance, since the famous English architect, in whose house the museum is located, was very interested in the architecture of tombs, collected ancient sarcophagi and burial urns. As a final chord, the organizers are planning to hold a charity auction, where they will be able to purchase the model they like. The proceeds will be shared by the museum and Maggie Centers.
Of the ten finalists, the only winner has yet to be chosen, whose project is planned to be implemented in one of the cemeteries.
Park constellation
Deathlab and Latent have come up with a new type of suspended memorials - especially for overcrowded cities.
Immortality mask
Nathan Webb proposes to preserve and revive the faces of famous people using 3D scanning, with the mausoleum itself borrowing the shape of the Egyptian pyramid.
Memorial for Lost Attention
Ben Allen created a secluded place where mobile phone signals do not penetrate, and a person literally loses touch with the world.
Headstone to the past
This tombstone to Sebastian Bern is seen as a door to the future - an opening made of light limestone.
Sean Clarkson's mausoleum
Sean Clarkson chose a 6-sided glass volume for his own mausoleum, reminiscent of his brand name. And in the center of it was placed a bar - as a symbol of hospitality.
Animal-eaters
DSDHA reminds: in our world, animal life is sometimes valued above human life. The silhouette images for the tombstones are inspired by the motives of ancient Egyptian art and the reliefs of sarcophagi.
The architectural triumph of death
Mark Benjamin Drewes designed a narrow high-rise volume of concrete and wood to compact the memorial in large cities.
Tombstone to an unknown draftsman
Ordinary Architecture has honored the memory of everything that disappeared from the life of an architect with the advent of computer design. A ruler, tape measure, square, glue, graph paper, etc. were placed on the stone ziggurat.
Wax sketches
Paul M. Jaculis created the headstone for the gravedigger beetle Nicrophorus Investigator.
Face to Face: Sir John
Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu used the mask of John Soane himself in their work. Inside this gigantic marble structure, you can retire.
