Graveyards around the world are increasingly disappearing from the urban landscape. 

In times of increasing egocentrism and superiority in virtual space or social media, the topic of death is increasingly vanishing from the digital world. 

In Tokyo, however, there is another phenomenon. Speculation on land has led to temple properties being bought up and sold again as cemeteries without taxes for ten times the original price. (meigi-gashi) 

Today, this leads to the fact that small hidden and walled cemeteries are located between residential buildings or commercial buildings all over the city.

This design tries to understand death as the natural thing it is and to return it to the focus of the living. At the same time, a place of mourning in memory can also be a place of silence and encounter. In addition to the ritual as an important identity-forming bridge to the past, the design also provides space for future forms of remembrance in the digital age.

At the entrance to the Vertical Cemetery, a transition to the noisy and busy Shinuku neighborhood is deliberately placed via a publicly accessible green space. 

On the upper floors are spaces for the traditional burial ceremony of Japanese culture. 

The Ritual Space

Above the three functional groups Wake/ Banquet and Memorial is the Encounter Space, an adaptive space in which the virtual heritage of the deceased can be experienced. This space should also be able to be visited in parallel as a digital space from anywhere. However, as a physical space, it offers the opportunity to connect with the deceased in a unique setting.

At the top end of the building is an open park which as a collective space represents the end of the journey through the Vertical Cemetry and as a natural garden stands for life.

It forms the counterpart to the Columbarium, a hall in the basement of the building.