Park Cemetery
The City Cemetery of Leuven lies at the intersection of a vibrant urban fabric and a quiet, introspective space. In response to growing secularisation and cultural diversity, a new vision is emerging: the cemetery as a place not only for mourning, but also for solace, encounter, remembrance, storytelling, and cultural reflection. The Masterplan translates this vision into a dynamic and future-oriented framework.
Central to the plan is a renewed approach to the cemetery’s layered history. While preserving its distinct zones, the rigid layout gradually gives way to a more fluid and diverse spatial composition. New burial forms and commemorative spaces reflect the complexity of Leuven itself, a mosaic of personal stories and collective memory.
Farewell remains the cemetery’s core function. Personal rituals unfold in both traditional and innovative burial forms. Collective remembrance is supported through monuments and memorials, while reflection on grief and change is encouraged via lectures, workshops, and temporary installations. The site increasingly resembles a quiet park, a green lung where biodiversity, ecology, and contemplation coexist.
The Masterplan acts as a flexible toolbox: a collection of design ideas that can be implemented step by step. It allows for imagination, experimentation, and adaptation, acknowledging that our ways of dealing with loss and remembrance are constantly evolving.
Transformations will occur gradually, respecting the cemetery’s slow and contemplative rhythm. New landscape and burial forms will emerge organically, shaped by community engagement and cultural sensitivity.
Once a secluded enclave, the cemetery now opens gently to the city. Its gates invite passage along meandering paths that weave through trees, monuments, and memories. It becomes a layered landscape, one that holds space for farewell and remembrance, but also for quiet connection, reflection, and renewal.
COMMISSION
City of Leuven
REALIZATION DATE
2025-…
LOCATION
City Cemetery, Leuven (BE)