The cemetery of Skogskyrkogården in Enskede, southern Stockholm, was built between 1919 and 1940 by the architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz. On a ridge overgrown with pines they created a sacred landscape with several small chapels arranged to interact with the natural surroundings. The entire site is considered one of the most important works of modern architecture.

Skogskyrkogården expresses on a large scale the design aspirations that characterized Swedish architecture before and after the Second World War. A modern society called for solutions that were both beautiful and functional, and this also applied to resting places for the dead. A major international competition for the design of the Southern Cemetery in Stockholm was announced in 1915 and won by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz.

The winning proposal of the two architects was firmly based on the landscape. Lewerentz's contribution mainly concerned the landscaping and the classically inspired Chapel of the Resurrection (built in 1926). Asplund mainly devoted himself to the buildings, with the Crematorium (built 1934-40) standing out as a central work both in his own career and in the architecture of the 1930s as a whole. The architects designed the entire complex, from the landscape to the smallest lamp. Skogskyrkogården was completed in 1940, and the finished result may be described as a harmonious whole uniting nature and architecture.

The architectural commission involved strict requirements as regards a number of practical functions: cremation instead of burial, for example, was one directive the architects had to follow. The Crematorium with the three ceremonial rooms - the Chapels of Faith, Hope, and the Holy Cross - stands close to the main entrance to Skogskyrkogården. The landscape here is completed by the large free-standing granite cross on the grass. The actual chapels are restrained in form but rich in the choice of materials, with decoration by artists specially invited by Asplund: Sven Erixson, Bror Hjorth, Ivar Johnsson, and Otte Sköld. The actual graves are arranged in blocks in the pine forest. There is also a memorial grove and a monumental mound, as well as an open-air columbarium where cinerary urns may be placed.
The Tallum Pavilion, which is in the south of Skogskyrkogården, has a permanent exhibition about the cemetery and the two architects.
Skogskyrkogården was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994. The justification of the World Heritage Committee was:
"Skogskyrkogården is an outstanding example of how architecture and landscaping from our century combine to make a cemetery. This creation has had a great influence on the design of cemeteries all over the world."

Information provided by: http://www.raa.se/varveng/skogse.asp