cemetery Ankaran

a place of remembrance at the transition between the verticals of the forest and the limitlessness of the horizon

The cemetery as a place of memory and a ritual place of farewell, both a place of community and a quiet place of contemplation, is designed at the transition between the verticals of the forest and the limitlessness of the horizon. The space of the cemetery is defined by contrasting relationships and transitions between open and closed, between light and dark, between here and hereafter.
It is located in an exceptional location, on a ridge above the central part of Ankaran, above the modernist church of St. Nikolaj along the Oljčna poti, which offers views of the Bay of Trieste and Slovenian Istria. It is precisely because of its exceptional location that the land was originally left over for commercial construction, but after protests by the local community it was re-purposed as a cemetery. Ankaran did not have a suitable place to say goodbye to the deceased, so it means a new cemetery, one of the main public spaces of the local community, both functionally and symbolically.

The forest cemetery shows its dual nature by design. On the one hand, it functions as a freely passable park forest intended for walks and contemplation, and on the other, as a series of marked burial fields, smaller cemeteries, which are lined up in terraces on the slope above the farewell building. The relief is geometrized into five terraces, which, due to their connection to the existing terrain, spread out like a fan. On the first terrace there is a farewell facility, which we climb up a gentle ramp. Walled burial fields are located on the next three terraces, and on the highest one there is a space for scattering. Individual, more intimate spaces are connected by a serpentine ritual path embedded in a network of forest paths connected to the center of Ankaran. Along the way, there are processes of saying goodbye, mourning, remembering and reflecting, as well as socializing and meeting. The well-thought-out dramaturgy of architectural and landscape elements lined up along the path directs the visitor’s gaze alternately along the terrain between the verticals of the forest and perpendicularly to the terrain towards the sea, into this unfathomable dimension that merges with the sky on the horizon.

The farewell chapel is close to the edge of the forest and removed from the building mass of the church, which allows unobstructed views of the horizon. It consists of three environments. An entrance platform with a bench as an entry space open to the horizon, a morgue as an introverted mourning space illuminated by zenithal light and a covered farewell space, separated from the morgue with a green atrium and open to the depths of the forest via a water mirror. With its longitudinal design of long walls parallel to the terrain, covered by a floating flat roof, it is related to the structure of the cemetery walls. In the back, introverted volume, there are service rooms with storage, toilets and a kitchenette. The location and transitory nature of the farewell object mark the beginning of the ritual journey and the transition from the public to the space of memory.

The design of the grave fields comes from the interpretation of traditional coastal walled cemeteries found near Ankaran, Lovran, Bertok and Stari Milje. The burial fields are surrounded by a low wall, which is interrupted by a higher brick wall at the entrance. In addition to the niches in the brick wall, inside the burial fields there are floor baptistery and floor brick graves with tombstones directed towards the entrance, with the horizon in the background. The highest grave field with space for scattering is two-height and surrounded by a clipped hedge. The upper level is bounded by a thin line of retaining wall, from which the undertaker scatters the ashes into seemingly infinity. In total, the cemetery contains 110 ground baptismal graves, 246 ground burial graves, 180 burial niches and 272 burial places.

All architectural elements materially derive from the colors and textures of the location. Amidst the massive washed concrete walls in the earthy color of the flysch layers, the polished concrete fire walls stand out, while the bright connecting path floats above the terrain. Individual accents and functional elements are made of local karst limestone, wood and metal.
Ankaran Cemetery, with its modern approach to the cemetery as part of a free-passable park forest accessible to all, transforms the traditional idea of ​​the cemetery space as a place of the dead into a metaphor for community.

client

Municipality of Ancaran

competition

first place

year

2019

location

Ankaran, Oljčna pot

surface area

1600m2

project group, competition

architecture
Uroš Rustja, u.d.i.a.
Primož Žitnik, u.d.i.a.
Mina Hiršman, m.i.a.
Martina Vitlov, štud. arh.
Mateo Zonta, abs. arh.

landscape architecture
dr. Ana Kučan, u.d.i.k.a.
Luka Javornik, u.d.i.k.a.
Danijel Mohorič, m.i.k.a.
Pia Kante, m.i.k.a.
Katja Mali, abs. kraj. arh.

project group

architecture
Uroš Rustja, u.d.i.a.
Primož Žitnik, u.d.i.a.
Mina Hiršman, m.i.a.
Mateo Zonta, m.i.a.

wayfinding design
Tomaž Mlinarič, u.d.i.a.

landscape architecture
dr. Ana Kučan, u.d.i.k.a.
Luka Javornik, u.d.i.k.a.
Danijel Mohorič, m.i.k.a.

photography: Ana Skobe