Well into the 1960s, the average Belgian preferred to be buried in a cemetery. New or waning religious beliefs, a changing view of death and increasing multiculturalism brought about a change in this and gave rise to alternatives, including cremation. But what should and can a crematorium look like? Statie Stuifduin by a2o architects shows the way.

Cremation has been regulated by law in our country since 1971. Almost fifty years later, the number of cremations has risen to an estimated fifty thousand per year, or about half of all deaths. To meet this demand, in 2010 the intermunicipal associations managing the crematoria jointly planned the construction of thirteen new facilities, in addition to eleven existing crematoria, judiciously distributed across Belgium.