Johan Celsing - Sweden
New Crematorium
Woodland Cemetery (Stockholm)
2009 - 2013


The new Crematorium is located in a clearing in the wild wood to the north of Gunnar Asplund’s crematorium complex of 1940.
The motto for the project in the anonymous international competition of 2009 was "A Stone in the Forest".
The arrangement of the plan and the atmospheres of the interiors have been major concerns in the design of the building. The compact figure of the plan give overview to the staff as well as making a limited encroachment in the precious wood. The building´s asymmetrical volume and exterior surfaces are developed in response to the waves of the woodland terrain where large pine trees, moss and exposed bedrock are dominant features.
The exterior of the building is in brick, both on facades as well as on the roof, where the bricks are laid with the flat side up.
Exposed white concrete has been used for the structure and the interiors of the building. No treatment has been done to the surfaces when the form-work has been dismantled. Thus, walls and ceilings give a subtle but palpable sign of the construction process. For acoustics, perforated bricks are used in some interiors. Being white glazed, they reflect and accentuate the light from the openings and slits in the roof.
The flooring material of the major spaces is a green-hued Swedish Brännlycke-marble. Metal fittings, doors and windows will have a surface of black-oxidized copper.
The compact structure has a public entrance with a canopy under which mourners may gather. The walkway up to the public entrance has pavings of granite slabs spread in between the pines. In the Ceremony Room mourners can have a ceremony by a coffin or urn. Inside the building block is an atrium open to the sky where staff can get together at breaks without interfering with mourners.
(Text: Johan Celsing)