冬瓜行旅/Melonlife Travel

地點/Location

描述/Description

Crossing the street from First Funeral Parlor of Taipei City, along Minquan East Rd. are numerous stores in funeral service business. Melon-Life Travel is just one of them. Melon-Life Travel dedicates efforts to provide professional service in funeral business including consulting as well as assisting farewell ceremonies. MLT perceives death is like taking a journey with one way ticket, and MLT would be some kind of tavel agent more than traditional funeral industry. Still, a farewell ceremony is to gather friends, relatives, and family’s members to pay tribute with warm and peaceful feeling. 

As a result, we intend to make a place reminding touring experience with a main concept comes from the poem of Tagore, “Let life be beautiful like summer flowers, and death like autumn leaves.” Therefore, our design creates a spacial comfort with a touch of “Zen”. An aesthetics of a space is with simplicity, but not with coldness. Moreover, we focused on generating a friendly environment to enhance the quality of consulting experience between the MLT and clients.

Melon-Life Travel is with an area of 120 m2, which includes a small basement. Different from others stores nearby, we try to tell a story of life and death in MLT with an unique approach. By placing some green wall and water fountain in reception area is to symbolize the continuity of life. By setting black granite, dark marble, and wood panels around is to symbolize the various forms of death are all quiet, elegant, but still with dignity. A cycle of life is proceeding no matter some are lushly living while others are rest peacefully. We believe that the sight of plants and the sound of water will not only sooth sadness of loss, but also indicate the philosophy of the universe we are dwelling in. 

Solid Burma cypress and Vietnam cypress veneer are used as main materials for doors, grids, and wall panels. With the assistance of some carefully arranged lighting scheme, the touch of Zen and the aroma of solid fir make the atmosphere more comfortable and spiritual.