Introduction

Cemeteries have historically been places of remembrance, ritual, and reflection—yet in many cities today they remain isolated, static, and underutilized landscapes. As urban densities increase and cultural relationships with death evolve, there is a need to reimagine cemeteries as meaningful, inclusive, and ecological spaces.

Future Cemetery, Memory & Landscape invites designers to rethink burial grounds as living landscapes—where remembrance coexists with nature, community, and time.

Objective

To design a future-oriented cemetery landscape that integrates memory, ritual, ecology, and public space. Proposals should explore how architecture and landscape can transform spaces of mourning into places of reflection, healing, continuity, and environmental stewardship.

The Building Program

• traditional, cremation, alternative rituals

• Memorial structures or markers

• Ritual spaces (ceremonial halls, prayer or contemplation zones)

• Paths of remembrance and processional routes

• Landscape elements (water, forests, gardens, meadows)

• Public interfaces (reflection spaces, quiet gathering areas)

• Ecological systems (biodiversity zones, soil regeneration, water management)

• Optional: digital or interactive memorial elements

Site

The competition is open-site. Participants may select a real or hypothetical site of their choice, such as:

• Urban fringe or peri-urban land

• Abandoned or underused landscapes

• Existing cemeteries for adaptive reuse

• Natural landscapes at risk or in transition

Site selection should support the conceptual intent of memory, ritual, and landscape integration.