Paevälja mälestusteaed

Suhtumine surma on läbi aja muutunud. Tänapäeva inimestel on raskem mõista lähedase kaotust ja tulla toime emotsionaalselt keerukate olukordadega, kui meie esivanematel, kes ei olnud minetanud arusaamu surmast, kui elu osast. Tõrjuv suhtumine surma muudab ka matusekultuuri. Inimeste vahetud kontaktid surmaga muutuvad harvemaks ning järjest enam korraldavad matuseid matusebürood. Linnades on vanad traditsioonid ununemas ja uusi kombeid ei ole veel välja kujunenud. Mälestusteaed soovib muuta inimeste suhtumist. Rõhutades eluringlust ja luues tuge pakkuvaid teekondi, on mälestusteaed koht vaikuseks ja rahuks lahkunud hingedele ja ka külastajatele. Matmispaik lahendatud mälestustepargina on vabam käsitlus ja pakub võimalust vanu kombeid ümber mõtestada ja luua uusi. Arvestades koha olemusega, on loodud tervik uute lahenduste ja olemasolevate looduslikke vormide vahel. Mälestusteaed on meditatiivne pelgupaik, kus seal puhkavad hinged annavad avalikule ruumile teistsugusema kvaliteedi. Matmispaigad ei peaks olema peidetud ning nii toob mälestusteaed surnud tagasi elavate keskele.

In time, attitudes towards death have been a subject to change. People nowadays have a hard time understanding the loss of someone close. They struggle trying to cope with emotionally complicated situations, more easily grasped by our ancestors, as they hadn't yet ceased to view death as a natural part of life. Rejective attitude towards death changes the funeral culture, too. People avoid facing the phenomenon of death in a genuine manner, while more and more funerals are arranged by undertaker's. City folks are forgetting old traditions. And they haven't really got new ones of their own. The garden of remembrance is an attempt to change people's attitudes. With emphasis put on the always ongoing circle of life, journeys are being created that offer support. The memorial garden is place of silence and peace for both the souls that have left us and the living ones who have come to visit them. The garden of remembrance approach to a burial space offers a more relaxed reimagining, as well as a chance to reconsider old customs while creating some new ones. Taking into account the genius loci, a whole has been created, with a certain kind of balance between novel solutions and existing natural landscape. The memorial garden is a meditative sanctuary. One might say that the lost ones resting there participate, bringing another kind of a quality for the space. Burial spaces shouldn't be hidden away. So, in a way, the garden brings the deceased back among the living.