Memento Mori is MAZi Architects’ longlisted proposal - among the final ten entries -for the City of Patras open competition for the first crematorium in Greece. The project frames the crematorium as an ecumenical place of memory, balancing ritual and technology through a restrained, elemental architectural language.

Three rammed-earth walls rise from the ground to organise the site and divide the scheme into public and technical realms. Their materiality translates the cycle of life - dust to dust - while carved niches allow urns to be placed directly within the earth. Arrival unfolds as a processional approach, framed by cypress trees and aligned with the walls, preparing visitors for transition. Movement follows an east–west journey from light to dark, with a linear water channel acting as a symbolic threshold.

Remembrance extends into the Gardens of the Four Seasons, supporting ash deposition, scattering, and reflection. Passive design strategies, thermal mass, natural ventilation, and the potential for cremation heat recovery embed environmental responsibility within the project’s poetic framework.