SHUNSUKE OHE's Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium presents a masterfully composed architectural meditation captured at the threshold moment between daylight and dusk, employing a rigorous symmetrical…

Rendered in deepening tones of prussian blue and slate gray that transition from a luminous cerulean twilight at the zenith to a rich ultramarine at the horizon line, SHUNSUKE OHE's Where the Soul…

Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium by SHUNSUKE OHE reveals an architectural threshold composition organized along a strong horizontal axis, commanding attention through the interplay of rectilinear…

A monumental concrete vault curves upward from a smooth stone floor, its surface rendered in graduated tones of warm umber, burnt sienna, and cool gray that transition from deep shadow at the base to…

Bronze Architecture · 2025

Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium

by Shunsuke Ohe

Bronze A' Design Award 2025 in Architecture
CLIENT: Shunsuke Ohe
Estimated Number of Design Views: 13,604
Verification code 1CD7C3207D · Verify this award

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release

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About Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium

A columbarium attached to a temple.It was designed and constructed with respect for Japanese traditions, inheriting traditional Japanese designs and techniques. The first thing you see when you enter the building is the elliptical symbolic monument with a three dimensional curved surface. It is lit by spotlights installed on the ceiling and floor. Another highlight is the wooden coffered ceiling, which is equipped with indirect lighting that emits light toward the ceiling from all four sides. It also incorporates modern elements, making it a design that blends old and new.

About the Bronze A' Design Award

Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Where the Soul Sleeps Columbarium splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.

Press Kit

Unique Properties: Not only traditional construction methods and materials are used, but also modern ones are combined. Roof tiles are originally made of clay and cement, but in this project they are made of resin, which makes them lighter and more durable. This is a very important point in Japan, where earthquakes are common. I would also like to point out that fire resistance has also been improved. While reflecting traditional elements that have been passed down in Japan for a long time, the performance of the building itself has been greatly improved.
Dimensions & Packaging: Site area : 295.90 sqm / Total floor area : 104.72 sqm / Category : Columbarium
Tags: Japanese-style architecture , Plaster , Coffered ceiling , monument , Storehouse-style building , LUSTYdesign , Shunsuke Ohe
Production Technology: Exterior finish // roof : Plastic roof tile / eaves : Stained Wood / Exterior walls : Plaster , Stained Wood / Floor : Porcelain tile , Natural Stone
Interior finish // Ceiling : cloth , Natural wood / Wall : cloth / Floor : Porcelain tile , carpet
Design Challenge: It can be seen that the design was created with respect for traditional Japanese architectural styles and with sincerity to bring comfort to the hearts of the dead and visitors. It makes you realize that it is not enough for an architect to simply design a building in a self-centered and rational way; what is important is the feeling with which he designs it.
Research: The columbarium is a place where you can reunite with loved ones who have departed for the afterlife. Here, you can always reunite with your loved ones. The fantastical production inside the building makes you think so.
Perhaps you can communicate with the dead here.
Every aspect of the interior, including the ceiling height, finishing materials, colors and patterns, dimensions of each part, and lighting plan, has been carefully and meticulously designed.
Inspiration: This project is the construction of a columbarium attached to a temple. The building is designed based on traditional Japanese architectural style, but with a modern essence. Respecting Japanese tradition, designs and techniques handed down since ancient times are used in even the smallest details inside and outside the building.
Project Duration: Project Duration : From August 2022 to December 2023
Project location : Osaka(Japan)
Operation Flow: Although the design appears traditional at first glance, it also incorporates modern elements. When you enter the building, the first thing that catches your eye is the semi-elliptical monument. Spotlights shine from the ceiling and floor, creating a beautiful world with diffused light. It is as if a barrier separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. Visitors are soothed by the sight. The ceiling is a dynamic coffered ceiling, and indirect lighting is lit around it, gently illuminating the space with a high-quality feel.
Image Credits: Photograph : HIROSHI TANIGAWA by ToLoLo studio