Funeral buildings
Year
2005
Location
Palaia
Project for a noble chapel
The chapel in the literal meaning of its term is nothing more than a small country church, and the images that came to mind are those of the chapels that very often in Tuscany are found on the tops of hills, or along country roads, accompanied by some cypresses nearby. These buildings are communicative, they convey a strong sensation of sacredness and not only because of the sacred contents, but also because they reflect the sacredness of the place where they were built, they demonstrate how much the man who built them wanted in that specific moment and context , celebrate God, perhaps because inspired not only by faith but also by the beauty or sacredness of the landscape. The project starts from this shape which in the three solutions is interpreted with different materials and openings. The plan is identical in all three solutions, you enter from one side, you pass through a corner part in a narrow passage, you enter or exit one at a time like when you die. The connection between inside and outside remains and is the thread that links the inside of the sacred place with the outside of life. The passage leads to a central space which houses a Christ and a seat. This is the cell, the place of reflection and prayer, a centrally planned space with Christ facing west as in Christian churches, where one can stop to pray and remember one's loved ones. The exterior was treated in various ways and materials, with terracotta as in country churches, with stone or with a light sheet of steel. This last solution is the one that interests me most, because steel is cold like death is cold, it reflects light like the light of life, it gives the project the importance, sobriety and intensity of communication it needs . During the night, the fiber optic lights placed at the intersections give the project the image of a large lantern of perpetual light, a tribute to all the dead in the cemetery.