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91 Moore Ave., located next to Kitchener-owned and operated Mount Hope Cemetery, will be transformed by Kitchener Cemeteries to provide expanded cemetery services to the community.
This year, exterior renovations will completely modernize the look of the building. Construction is expected to begin June 2021 and finish by October 2021. A transformation indoors will follow within the next five years.
When complete, the building will feature indoor niches for urns, a bookable community room which will be used for family gatherings, memorial services and other events and office space for staff.
Public Information Sessions
Community members are invited to hear about this exciting project during one of two online public information sessions on Wednesday, April 21:
Kitchener Cemeteries is committed to keeping the community informed about this exciting project as it progresses.Subscribeto this page to receive updates.
An unfortunate interpretation of "Modernized look", though the building that they are transforming isn't exactly something to write home about either. It's too bad that they could not come up with something that looked more like a meaningful place where the ashes of the ones you loved are kept and less like that self-storage place where you keep your stuff from your early adult years (ie college/university) because you can't be bothered to throw it out.
(04-15-2021, 10:31 PM)nms Wrote: An unfortunate interpretation of "Modernized look", though the building that they are transforming isn't exactly something to write home about either. It's too bad that they could not come up with something that looked more like a meaningful place where the ashes of the ones you loved are kept and less like that self-storage place where you keep your stuff from your early adult years (ie college/university) because you can't be bothered to throw it out.
As I read it, I don't think they will store ashes there: it's for memorial services and other events. I don't know what such a building is supposed to look like, but I personally don't think this looks any worse than a random funeral home or community centre.
And it's really a reno/reclad of an existing building, so that in itself places constraints on the design.
(04-15-2021, 10:39 PM)tomh009 Wrote: I don't know what such a building is supposed to look like, but I personally don't think this looks any worse than a random funeral home or community centre.
And it's really a reno/reclad of an existing building, so that in itself places constraints on the design.
Some ornamentation would help. It looks like there are hardly any features on the building smaller than about half a meter. I think the fundamental question is whether not looking worse than a random funeral home is the most we can ask from the architect. Maybe we don't need to demand excellence, but we should at least hope for more than bland mediocrity.
(04-16-2021, 07:48 AM)LesPio Wrote: This means they will store ashes in the building (at an added cost) ...."When complete, the building will feature indoor niches for urns"
Yep, gotta keep those ashes out of the rain. Living mall walkers, not so much!
04-16-2021, 09:54 AM (This post was last modified: 04-16-2021, 09:55 AM by ac3r.)
The design could definitely be better as I think the façade is so boring, but there's nothing wrong with a modern looking funeral building in general. It's clean and neutral. I don't think every building relating to funerals needs to have some sort of Judeo-Christian faux traditional ornamented design to the building. A modern looking building looks just fine...examples:
(04-16-2021, 09:54 AM)ac3r Wrote: The design could definitely be better as I think the façade is so boring, but there's nothing wrong with a modern looking funeral building in general. It's clean and neutral. I don't think every building relating to funerals needs to have some sort of Judeo-Christian faux traditional ornamented design to the building. A modern looking building looks just fine...examples:
(04-16-2021, 09:54 AM)ac3r Wrote: The design could definitely be better as I think the façade is so boring, but there's nothing wrong with a modern looking funeral building in general. It's clean and neutral. I don't think every building relating to funerals needs to have some sort of Judeo-Christian faux traditional ornamented design to the building. A modern looking building looks just fine...examples:
04-16-2021, 07:47 PM (This post was last modified: 04-16-2021, 07:48 PM by dtkvictim.)
(04-16-2021, 09:54 AM)ac3r Wrote: The design could definitely be better as I think the façade is so boring, but there's nothing wrong with a modern looking funeral building in general. It's clean and neutral. I don't think every building relating to funerals needs to have some sort of Judeo-Christian faux traditional ornamented design to the building. A modern looking building looks just fine...examples:
I quite disagree. I'm not religious in the slightest, but I find that religious artwork and aesthetics are very emotionally and spiritually compelling and comforting. Certain aspects of those make it into most of even the most poorly done "faux traditional" funeral homes, and these modern buildings completely lack any of that. I think these are quite desirable qualities to have in funeral related buildings.
Personally, I would hate to attend a funeral in either of your links, even if I don't hate the buildings.
(04-16-2021, 09:54 AM)ac3r Wrote: The design could definitely be better as I think the façade is so boring, but there's nothing wrong with a modern looking funeral building in general. It's clean and neutral. I don't think every building relating to funerals needs to have some sort of Judeo-Christian faux traditional ornamented design to the building. A modern looking building looks just fine...examples:
I quite disagree. I'm not religious in the slightest, but I find that religious artwork and aesthetics are very emotionally and spiritually compelling and comforting. Certain aspects of those make it into most of even the most poorly done "faux traditional" funeral homes, and these modern buildings completely lack any of that. I think these are quite desirable qualities to have in funeral related buildings.
Personally, I would hate to attend a funeral in either of your links, even if I don't hate the buildings.
I think it is possible to have meaningful ornamentation that isn't Religious.
I also think it's possible to have modern, minimalist spaces that evoke a somber, spiritual feeling. I haven't visited it personally, but the Memorial Hall at the Canadian War Museum seems like a really good example of this. 91 Moore looks like a generic office building. There's nothing wrong with it if it were medical offices or something, maybe with a pharmacy downstairs. But it's not the first place I'd choose to have a funeral, and I certainly wouldn't want a loved one interred there.
04-17-2021, 10:13 AM (This post was last modified: 04-17-2021, 10:17 AM by ac3r.)
Yeah it's definitely possible. Le Corbusier designed some beautiful churches and other religious buildings that were very modernist/brutalist in appearance and they evoked a good feeling of the somber and yet a feeling of sublime at the same time. He used the minimalism of the concrete to emphasize the asceticism of monks and religious belief. Here's an example...look how beautiful those interiors are:
(04-17-2021, 05:16 PM)ktmbtsmrt Wrote: I was cycling along Charles today and saw that 218 Charles St E is for sale. Would be a great spot for something other than a parking lot!!!
I don't know what the zoning rules are in that specific location in terms of parking minimums, but the real shame is that in far too many places, things legally must be mostly parking lots.
