Het nabestaandenhuis: Het nabestaandenhuis offers practical, emotional and social support to nabestaanden/relatives and their family and friends.

Death is universal, but the way we deal with it is diverse and ever changing. For a period of time there was a taboo around death in the Netherlands. Nowadays we live in an accelerating individualistic society which means that there is no space/ time to reflect on loss. Gradually, specialists as well as nabestaanden discover that this can lead to mental health problems. Unprocessed sadness can have consequences. To break the taboo it is important that death becomes negotiable again. Het nabestaandenhuis is a place where nabestaanden/ relatives are helped, enabling them to develop the power to cope with loss. This research report examines the demand for the new function het nabestaandenhuis and the architectural wishes for het nabestaandenhuis. Through interviews with experienced people working in the mourn care, the demand for het nabestaandenhuis was confirmed. The case studies and the interviews together led to four architectural themes; transition, repetition, orientation and temptation that will be included in the design of het nabestaandenhuis. Het nabestaandenhuisArchitecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Explorela