Students at the Technical University of Giessen have worked intensively on the redesign of the crematorium at the New Cemetery in Giessen. All of the budding architects mastered this challenging task. One of the designs would even be closely adhered to by Giessen's public utility company in the event of a remodelling.
The crematorium at the New Cemetery in Giessen was built in 1975 and underwent extensive technical modernisation a few years ago. It is possible that further modernisation work will be carried out in the coming years. Reinhard Paul, Technical Director of Stadtwerke Gießen AG (SWG), which has operated the crematorium since the beginning of 2013, explains the reason: "For relatives, the crematorium is the place where they see the deceased for the last time and say goodbye to them. These moments of mourning should take place in a dignified, pleasant and peaceful environment. The original building does not do sufficient justice to this. We could change this with a remodelling." Among other things, the technical, office and farewell rooms would be separated more than before.
THM students design concepts
Several students from the Technical University of Central Hesse (THM) made a decisive contribution to the possible redesign of the crematorium. As part of a course run by Professor Nikolaus Zieske, 16 architecture students each created a design for new premises. All of the concepts were created under the motto "Take away fear, preserve respect" and were also based on a catalogue of requirements from SWG.
"It was a special challenge for the students and a valuable experience at the same time," explains the THM lecturer. "They visited the crematorium several times. They also had to deal emotionally with the topics of death and mourning and incorporate these feelings into their work." Reinhard Paul emphasises that they achieved this with flying colours: "We liked all the designs and they met the requirements. It was difficult to find a favourite." In the end, Stadtwerke Gießen decided in favour of Sebastian Lulay's work.
"When the conversion comes, we will stick as closely as possible to the selected concept," assures Matthias Fink, technical operations manager of the SWG crematorium. The representatives of Stadtwerke Gießen thanked Professor Nikolaus Zieske and the students personally for their support on Thursday, 3 July. Reinhard Paul also presented the budding architects with a certificate in recognition of their outstanding work.