Vincent Karlsson & Nils Löv – Scholarship recipients, Ung Svensk Form 2026
Scholarship: Boråstapeter
Inspirational trip and sketching assignment for 1–3 scholarship recipients, worth SEK 20,000 each.
Gothenburg City Crematorium
Gothenburg City Crematorium is Vincent Karlsson and Nils Löw's graduation project, in which a crematorium is placed behind Gothenburg Concert Hall. The project includes two chapels, memorial gardens, and crematorium operations, and explores how architecture can create both distance and proximity between the ceremony and the city—how places of remembrance can be moved closer to urban life. It is a sensitive activity where great importance has been placed on creating dignified sequences and spatial transitions. With the help of the site's existing differences in elevation, these have been given peace and integrity in a very central location in the city.
The entrance takes a step back, both to create a deliberate distance and to emphasize the significance of the place.
The two chapels have different characters. In the smaller chapel, the space in which people move is warm, cozy, and gently ornamented. Above this rises a brighter and more abstract space. The larger chapel is a darker room, completely clad in wood, where the undulating plot is used to dissolve one wall and create a meeting place where nature becomes an active part of the private collection.
The oven room is bright, and a large, high window brings down the treetops and sky for the final farewell.
To make the most of the brief encounter with people and guide passers-by through the building's sequences, furniture and objects have been designed with care. The first encounter takes place in a door handle, in the lighting, or in a distraction in a lamp. A supportive bench, a handshake in a door handle. A stackable chair allows for quick changes—a room can be transformed from accommodating 50 to 4 mourners. A room that should never feel empty.
Small and large grips work together to gently guide the person forward.