Arch Out Loud has announced an international competition challenging designers to develop proposals for a vertical cemetery that explores the relationship between life and death within the city for the Shinjuku district of Tokyo.

With almost 25 percent of Tokyo’s population now aged 65 and older and a large majority over the age of 30, Arch Out Loud suggests the city needs to face the issue of burial space. Currently in Tokyo, unwanted cemeteries are often constructed in front of homes in neighbourhoods that are already densely populated.

Designers have the freedom to vertically address the issue of space and the requirements of the brief. There is no required scale for the cemetery.

Proposals should include a columbarium (a space for the storage of funeral urns) and while designers can choose how much room they allocate, efficiency will be considered by the jury. 

There should also be reflection spaces for family and friends of the deceased to reflect. The areas can be large gathering areas for many people or small personal spaces. There must be two or more of these spaces in the overall proposal.

The competition is the second to be held by Arch Out Loud, an architectural research initiative dedicated to providing opportunities for designers to explore the current atmosphere of architectural and cultural thought. Arch Out Loud’s first design competition was for the New York City Aquarium and Public Waterfront, which received 178 proposals and was won by Italian architectural firm Lissoni Architettura.

The objectives of the vertical cemetery competition are to:

1. Explore the relationship between death and the current state of the discipline of architecture.
2. Look for innovative ways a cemetery can be experienced.
3. Create a solution that efficiently addresses Tokyo’s issue with space.
4. Define a relationship between two unlike environments – the cemetery and the city.
5. Examine the connection between a cemetery and the commercial and pop culture identities of Tokyo.

There will be 50 finalists and first place will receive US$5,000 (NZD$7,000) while three runners-up will each receive US$1,000. A director’s choice award and 10 honourable mentions will also be awarded.

The jury includes Tom Wiscombe (founder and principal at Tom Wiscombe Architecture), Alison Killing (founder of Killing Architects and curator of the 2014 Venice Biennale, Death in Venice), Liam Young (founder of Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today), Ania Molenda (founder of Amateur Cities and curator of the 2014 Venice Biennale, Death in Venice), Masatake Shinohara (vice curator of the Japanese Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale), Dongwoo Yim (principal and co-founder of Praud), Rafael Luna (principal and co-founder of Praud), Curtis Roth (Ohio State University and Akadamie Schloss Solitude), Karla Britton (head of architectural theory at Yale University), and Astrid Klein (founder and principal at Klein Dytham Architecture).

Teams must not exceed four people. For further information and registration details visit the Arch Out Loud website.