Press Release
Or Man Lai Is Honored with the Bronze A' Design Award for Green Funeral Ceremony Center Place To Celebrate Life in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Or Man Lai honored for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Green Funeral Ceremony Center Place To Celebrate Life by Or Man Lai, designed for Sage Funeral Services Ltd.. The award was conferred within the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
Regarding Green Funeral Ceremony Center Place To Celebrate Life
Gather is a funeral ceremony center built in Sai Kung, Hong Kong. The building follows three stages of movement, named Leaving, Gathering and Connection. An exhibition space allows family and guests to view the deceased. A public atrium offers rest and reflection, with sunlight and tree shadows. A rooftop ash garden brings elements of nature to visitors. The structure combines human ashes with concrete, and recycled materials are used inside. The shapes recall two hands meeting. The intent is to ease grief and support social connection.
About Or Man Lai
With over 17 years of design experience in multi-discipline, Bonz graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Portsmouth. A multidisciplinary person obsessed with stories and pattern style releases inner chaos.
Award Record
With this recognition, Or Man Lai is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/89953
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/89953
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!89953
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/250149
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.doublev.com
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Green Funeral Ceremony Center Place To Celebrate Life
- Function
- Place To Celebrate Life
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Light Slate Gray, Slate Gray, Dark Gray and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Sage Funeral Services Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Or Man Lai
- Country
- Hong Kong (China)
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2019 - 2020
- Design ID
- #89953
Credits
- Image Credits
- #1 : Creator Or ManLai, Green Funeral Ceremony Center, 2019. #2 : Creator Or ManLai, Green Funeral Ceremony Center, 2019. #3 : Creator Or ManLai, Green Funeral Ceremony Center, 2019. #4 : Creator Or ManLai, Green Funeral Ceremony Center, 2019. #5 : Creator Or ManLai, Green Funeral Ceremony Center, 2019.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The green funeral center with the theme of Gather delivers the message of connection, of joining together and of humanity. The three stages of human flow are portrayed throughout the building and rooftop ash garden, which is intended to promote togetherness, in order to diminish the sadness and grief characteristic of traditional Chinese funerals. Its building materials and structure are composed of human ashes and concrete, in convergence with the center’s shapes, as a metaphor of two human hands meeting, implying that people can find a common point to understand that a funeral is a time to gather.
- Inspiration
- With a view to gathering together, through an eco-friendly, modern funeral using recycled materials, visitors can experience social bonding and healing. Focused on the essence of a funeral being to remember one’s ancestors, Gather allows the customization of events to infuse elements of environmental protection. It celebrates humanity by using people’s bodies that were once important to life, allowing them to be essential in death, by converting the dead and Gathering them into a physical form. The building itself is designed to encourage movement.
- Research
- In line with gathering together to celebrate life, the designer has created an eco-friendly funeral service center with recycled materials and an overall friendly space where visitors can have a unique experience of social connection and healing. The designer focused on the essence of a funeral to pay respects to ancestors and allow modern funeral services to infuse elements of environmental protection. We also utilized an ash and concrete mixture that is eco-friendly and reduces the use of resources.
- Challenge
- During this architectural project, one of the greatest challenges was dealing with the complicated nature of death and funerals, which are associated with sadness and negativity. Sage Funeral Services Ltd. always strives to provide a customized, high-quality funeral service experience, but Asian elders and traditionalists may not accept a green funeral. However, the designer is confident that the theme will promote a sense of community and offer a safe space in which to grieve and heal.
- Realization and Technology
- The funeral center has been unique in its use of recycled materials for the interior. The focus is on highlighting the Earth, inside and out, and the most innovative building material used was human ash. The building has created a space that makes human bodies useful in death, as they were in life, and creates a strong foundation thereby minimizing the use of non-renewable resources. The rooftop garden offers elements of nature to the guests, and the outside trees provide natural shade for their comfort.
- Operation and Interaction
- The whole space is divided into three parts: the Leaving, Gathering, and Connection. The exhibition space enables the family and guests to view the deceased in the early part of the ceremony in order to strengthen the cohesiveness. Then everyone can gather in the public atrium to have a rest and partake in some reflection. With the support of the family and guests, the sun and the tree shadows can calm the mind and body. Finally, all pass through the square, where the soul will be connected, and reach the final warm funeral and meditation space, and face the turning of life with forgiveness.
- Project Duration and Location
- Tai Mong Tsai Road, Sai Kung, Hong Kong Remaining Portion of section B of Lot no.333 Lands
- Specifications
- 67200 mm x 20800 mm x 8200mm
- Keywords
- funeral, ceremony, centre, HongKong, contemporary, eco, green burial, architecture
