Gozzano Cemetery Extension

View towards the west end of the extension.

The Project

The project aims at giving the extension to the cemetery the shape of a garden. As a result, both natural and constructed elements are given equal value in the architectural composition. The garden is envisioned as the meeting point of the human and divine worlds and hence a dedicated space for meditation, contemplation and memory.

View of the parterre.

The new buildings relate to the south side of the existing cemetery via a large parterre which connects all paths. The green landscape dominates the composition here. To the west, near the new entrance, an evenly spaced cluster of cupressus sempervirens symbolically recalls the spiritual presence on the site. A single large deciduous tree -- a fraxinus excelsior -- has been placed behind the ossuary. The choice of this particular tree is due to its symbolic value in the oldest European cultures.

The clarity of plan is largely to avoid long and sombre corridors for burial niches, designing instead a sequence of "rooms" where niches are grouped in small numbers and better privacy and concentration are promoted.

The place where ashes are scattered is designed as a church open to the sky. The north aisle here forms terraces, held by local-stone low walls, on which twelve small maples are placed in an irregular row, while the south aisle is a covered corridor where a series of regular openings creates a tight rhythm, sheltering small cells for the cinerary urns.

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