Fürstenwald Cemetery, Chur

An Exalted Woodland Glade

Details
Clients
Hochbauamt der Stadt Chur
Type
Cemetery
Collaboration
Urs Zinsli, Chur
Period
1993 - 1996
Status
Realised
Area
18 000 m²
Country
Switzerland
The Fürstenwald cemetery benefits from its uniquely favourable site. This exalted place above the Rhine valley affords magnificent views of the mountain landscape and the city of Chur. The complex itself is compactly integrated in the woodland chambers.

The three spatial boundaries create a vessel for the community of the dead and the individual grief of the mourners. A merging with the woodland landscape is created by the targeted use of vegetation with species of plants indigenous to the adjacent landscape.
The long retaining wall, inserted between the mortuary, the chapel and the pavilion, forms the backbone of the cemetery. Its course responds to the existing topography, thus providing the possibility of flat burial plots. A little way away, it separates the woodland cemetery from the adjacent agricultural area, while leaving the view of the exalted far-off natural backdrop and the town free along its whole length.


Project by Kienast Vogt Partner