Forest memorial in India by 182 Design is a "spiritual threshold"
Architecture practice 182 Design has completed Sanctum of Trees, a stone memorial space in Tamil Nadu, India, that was lined with deep red concrete to symbolise the human heart.
The memorial was commissioned by the son of a philanthropist, who over his lifetime had transformed a 35-acre (14-hectare) area of farmland near the city of Erode into a forest.
Looking to celebrate this accomplishment and the father's love of trees, 182 Design created a simple space for reflection within the forest, contrasting a tactile stone exterior with a deep red interior.
"The client wanted to honour his father not through a statue or inscription, but by celebrating the forest he had planted," studio founder Lokesh PB told Dezeen.
"We wanted the design to embody ideas of reverence, regeneration and quiet presence, more like a spiritual threshold than a built monument," he added.
A curved section of stone wall marks the entrance into the site, where the cubic memorial sits in a small clearing surrounded by existing trees and a pebbled area.
Projecting from the eastern side of the memorial is a deep, weathered steel entrance, through which a short, curving path leads into a circular courtyard designed in reference to a Karuvarai – the innermost sanctum of Tamil temples.
While the stone exterior was chosen to blend in with the forest and convey a sense of resilience, the interior has been lined with concrete render stained a bold, deep red, intended to evoke the human heart.
"We used stone for the exterior to convey stillness and permanence, while the interior surfaces are cast in red-stained concrete to evoke a raw, emotional depth, a subtle reference to the human heart," PB said.
"The threshold is fabricated out of raw steel, which will weather and age, much like the surrounding trees. The materials are all intended to shift subtly over time, allowing the structure to mature in harmony with the forest," he added.
Planted in the centre of the courtyard is an Adansonia digitata tree, often referred to as the "tree of life". The studio described this tree as the "emotional anchor" of the project, which over time will gradually grow to fill and emerge out of the courtyard.
"[The tree] replaces the idea of a statue or shrine with a living, growing presence," explained PB. "Over time, it will grow to embrace the structure, keeping the father's memory alive – not in stone, but through life itself."
"We hope the structure stands as a poignant reminder that nature will outlast and transcend the manmade," he added.
Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, trees also played a central role in a recently-completed home by Prithvi Architects in Shoolagiri, which features mud walls that wrap around a series of Neem and Guava trees, while Vastushilpa Sangath completed an international school with a banana leaf-shaped roof.
The photography is by LokeshPB.
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