Urban Legacy – Preserving Cultural Continuity in Land Scarce Singapore

Year: 2025 Design & Honor Awards | Category: Student Project

This thesis reimagines memorial spaces in Singapore’s urban parks, addressing land scarcity while preserving cultural continuity. This 37-story columbarium integrates nature, architecture, and the grieving process, guiding visitors through acceptance, remembrance, and healing. The design balances permanence and transience, private grief and communal healing, creating a transformative experience within the city’s landscape. Through sustainable strategies and inclusive design, it reclaims space for the departed within everyday life, setting a precedent for urban memorialization. This Sanctuary of Passage is not just a place of mourning—it is a beacon of memory, resilience, and renewal.

Design Challenge

Singapore’s rapid urbanization has led to the systematic displacement of cemeteries, severing cultural connections to remembrance and mourning. This thesis addresses this challenge by integrating memorial spaces within the city’s green fabric, redefining how we honour the deceased in land-scarce environments.

One of the primary challenges was balancing the emotional needs of grief with the practicality of urban integration. The 37-story structure navigates this by tapering upward—symbolizing the transition from physical attachment to spiritual release—while incorporating gardens for reflection and ash scattering. The design follows the four tasks of mourning, providing a structured yet personal journey through loss.

Another critical challenge was ensuring accessibility without disrupting daily park activities. The columbarium’s circulation fosters seamless movement, allowing mourners to engage with the space without isolation from the community. Programmatic elements, including grief counselling rooms, cultural exhibits, and public contemplation areas, establish an inclusive and multi-faith environment.

Sustainability was integral to the project’s viability. Passive ventilation, rainwater harvesting, and solar energy reduce environmental impact, while the integration of biophilic elements enhances psychological well-being. These strategies ensure that the Sanctuary of Passage is not just a memorial, but an ecological and cultural asset within the city.

Ultimately, this project redefines memorialization in an urban setting, transforming loss into a shared, enduring experience. It challenges conventional boundaries between the living and the dead, creating a space where remembrance becomes an intrinsic part of daily life.

Student(s)
Denzyl Zhang

School
Savannah College of Art and Design

Project Location
Singapore, Singapore

Completion Date
6/1/2024

Professor
Aaron Wilner
Andrea Bertassi
David Gobel