Human Voice Architects

This project is more than just a garden of remembrance for the internment of ashes: it includes for the celebration of Mass outdoors, which is the primary reason for the location of the project in the far corner of the garden of the church grounds. The lawn itself becomes the nave of the outdoor church which has a sanctuary in the far corner, delineated by the crescent plan of the wall, continued by the benches which are places of delay and reflection while one visits, and the circular line of paving that completes the circle. The altar is situated in this sacred space with the wall of internment as a backdrop – the communion of the saints includes the living and the deceased, following the Catholic tradition.

In this way the siting also becomes the focal point of a processional route, as the faithful make their way towards it. Landscaping was used differently in the two separate approaches: a meandering brick-paved path from the parking lot up to the remembrance wall reaches the site from the side/back. This contrasts with the more direct entrance from the lawn side but a small gap between planted beds establishes a central axis between this end of the lawn and that (far) end, whereby the whole garden space becomes an outdoor room with an entrance and a focal point (the altar)

Project:
St. Jerome Catholic Church Remembrance Garden

Client:

Johannesburg's Catholic Croatian community

Area:

25m²

Completed:

2011