To Live and Die in Beverly Hills: Parody of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles

2017

The project is a parody of the lifestyle of the wealthy and the vain, those who may wish to demonstrate their wealth and status beyond their death! It is in part inspired by Woody Allen’s critique of Los Angeles and stereotypical portrayals of the rich and beautiful inhabitants of Beverly Hills. The programme is treated seriously, proposing sensitive and functional spaces centred around a chameleon-like valedictory hall which is designed to accommodate different tastes. This is achieved through changing stage sets and props, creating spaces ranging from the most vulgar to the most minimal according to the clients tastes. A crematorium has a glass workshop to facilitate luxury after death in custom-made glass urns and a specialist workshop to turn ashes into diamonds.

This building is mainly constructed with reinforced in-situ and precast concrete. Concrete provides great thermal insulation under the extreme weather in Los Angeles. In addition, the simplicity of the material gives a sense of calmness and subtleness for the atmosphere of a crematorium. For the roof shell construction, there will be one layer of concrete pours and one layer of precast concrete modules sandwiching a layer of thermal insulation. The self-supporting concrete roof shell are fixed to the thrust blocks in order to provide a huge open internal space for the valedictory hall without blocking by the columns.