{"id":3262,"date":"2025-08-14T10:30:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T10:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=3262"},"modified":"2025-08-15T15:28:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T15:28:15","slug":"forest-memorial-in-india-by-182-design-is-a-spiritual-threshold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/forest-memorial-in-india-by-182-design-is-a-spiritual-threshold\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest memorial in India by 182 Design is a &#8220;spiritual threshold&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-bottom: 15px\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"852\" height=\"852\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"attachment-homepage_article_featured size-homepage_article_featured lazyload\" alt=\"Sanctum of Trees by 182 Design\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sanctum-of-trees-memorial-india-182-design-sq_dezeen_2364_col_1-852x852-1.jpg\"><\/div>\n<p>Architecture practice 182 Design has completed Sanctum of Trees, a stone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/tag\/memorials\/\">memorial<\/a> space in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/tag\/tamil-nadu\/\">Tamil Nadu<\/a>, India, that was lined with deep <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/tag\/coloured-concrete\/\">red concrete<\/a> to symbolise the human heart.<span id=\"more-2227459\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The memorial was commissioned by the son of a philanthropist, who over his lifetime had transformed a 35-acre (14-hectare) area of farmland near the city of Erode into a forest.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2236532\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2236532\" style=\"width: 2364px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2236532 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Exterior view of the Sanctum of Trees memorial in India \" width=\"2364\" height=\"1682\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sanctum-of-trees-memorial-india-182-design_dezeen_2364_col_0.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2236532\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">182 Design has completed a memorial space in Tamil Nadu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Looking to celebrate this accomplishment and the father&#8217;s love of trees, 182 Design created a simple space for reflection within the forest, contrasting a tactile stone exterior with a deep red interior.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The client wanted to honour his father not through a statue or inscription, but by celebrating the forest he had planted,&#8221; studio founder Lokesh PB told Dezeen.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2236535\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2236535\" style=\"width: 2364px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2236535 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"View towards entrance of stone memorial by 182 Design\" width=\"2364\" height=\"1691\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sanctum-of-trees-memorial-india-182-design_dezeen_2364_col_3.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2236535\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The memorial is enclosed by a tactile stone exterior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;We wanted the design to embody ideas of reverence, regeneration and quiet presence, more like a spiritual threshold than a built monument,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>A curved section of stone wall marks the entrance into the site, where the cubic memorial sits in a small clearing surrounded by existing trees and a pebbled area.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2236541\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2236541\" style=\"width: 2364px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2236541 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Close-up of stone memorial by 182 Design\" width=\"2364\" height=\"1644\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sanctum-of-trees-memorial-india-182-design_dezeen_2364_col_9.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2236541\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Weathered steel was used to create a deep entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Projecting from the eastern side of the memorial is a deep, weathered steel entrance, through which a short, curving path leads into a circular courtyard designed in reference to a Karuvarai \u2013 the innermost sanctum of Tamil temples.<\/p>\n<p>While the stone exterior was chosen to blend in with the forest and convey a sense of resilience, the interior has been lined with concrete render stained a bold, deep red, intended to evoke the human heart.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related-in-article-wrapper\" id=\"recommended-item-single-story\">\n<article class=\"related-in-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/05\/20\/thomas-sankara-mausoleum-burkina-faso-kere-architecture\/\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- Can this image be in the exclude lightbox list? --><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"191\" height=\"191\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"excludeLightbox wp-post-image lazyload\" alt=\"Thomas Sankara Mausoleum by K\u00e9r\u00e9 Architecture\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kere-architecture-thomas-sankara-mausoleum-sq_dezeen_2364_col_0-191x191-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-in-article-text\">\n<h1>Read:<\/h1>\n<h2>K\u00e9r\u00e9 Architecture unveils brick mausoleum for Burkina Faso&#8217;s former president<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;We used stone for the exterior to convey stillness and permanence, while the interior surfaces are cast in red-stained concrete to evoke a raw, emotional depth, a subtle reference to the human heart,&#8221; PB said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The threshold is fabricated out of raw steel, which will weather and age, much like the surrounding trees. The materials are all intended to shift subtly over time, allowing the structure to mature in harmony with the forest,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2236537\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2236537\" style=\"width: 1773px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2236537 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Person walking through the Sanctum of Trees in India\" width=\"1773\" height=\"2364\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sanctum-of-trees-memorial-india-182-design_dezeen_2364_col_5-scaled-1.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2236537\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The interior is finished with red-coloured concrete<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Planted in the centre of the courtyard is an Adansonia digitata tree, often referred to as the &#8220;tree of life&#8221;. The studio described this tree as the &#8220;emotional anchor&#8221; of the project, which over time will gradually grow to fill and emerge out of the courtyard.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[The tree] replaces the idea of a statue or shrine with a living, growing presence,&#8221; explained PB. &#8220;Over time, it will grow to embrace the structure, keeping the father&#8217;s memory alive \u2013 not in stone, but through life itself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We hope the structure stands as a poignant reminder that nature will outlast and transcend the manmade,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2236539\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2236539\" style=\"width: 1773px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2236539 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Courtyard space at the Sanctum of Trees by 182 Design\" width=\"1773\" height=\"2364\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sanctum-of-trees-memorial-india-182-design_dezeen_2364_col_7-scaled-1.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2236539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tree was planted at the memorial&#8217;s centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, trees also played a central role in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/05\/29\/prithvi-architects-winterfell-house-india\/\">recently-completed home by Prithvi Architects in Shoolagiri,<\/a> which features mud walls that wrap around a series of Neem and Guava trees, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/05\/22\/vastushilpa-sangath-shiv-nader-school-india\/\">Vastushilpa Sangath completed an international school with a banana leaf-shaped roof<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>The photography is by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lokeshpb\/\">LokeshPB<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/08\/14\/sanctum-of-trees-stone-memorial-india-182-design\/\">Forest memorial in India by 182 Design is a &#8220;spiritual threshold&#8221;<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\">Dezeen<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Architecture practice 182 Design has completed Sanctum of Trees, a stone memorial space in Tamil [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3262"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3272,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262\/revisions\/3272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}