Cemeteries occupy a very special role in urban space and culture. They are the Sacrum places of remembrance that border with the Profanum of our daily activities. This project aims to reframe the borders of the Old Cemetery in Lodz to create meaningful public space and connect urban structure.

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Existing street layout required new connections to densify city block in the post-industrial neighbourhood and to provide better circulation paths for traffic. At the same time, the Old Cemetery being the most noble necropolis of Lodz and also tourist attraction was missing proper architecture both to facilitate burial ceremonies and to serve the visitors. To negotiate between the Sacrum and the Profanum the new public square was created along the cemetery’s front walls with composition of a series of religious, commercial and residential buildings.

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The existing row of linden trees was preserved and new rows of trees were added to support peaceful atmosphere of the place. Together with commemorative pond in front of the designed chapel and adjacent bell tower in one end of the square and the visitor center with clock tower in the other the space itself is a symbolic passage. The edge of the neighbourhood is filled with an ensemble of buildings overlooking the square and creating attractive urban composition for the new streetscape.