1_Into the eternity

Into the Eternity

Analyzing the places for the dead

Into The Enternity Analyzing the places for the dead July 2016

Authors: Ignacio Uribe Gomez Alexandra Krivolapova

Relatore: Stefano Boeri Correlatore: Saverio Pesapane

Index Introduction

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What are the Places for Dead?

1.1 Defining the places for the dead

1.2 Components of the places for the dead

1.3 Funerary cults in different religions

1.4 Places for dead in different religions

1.5 Believes in afterlife

1.6 Urban places for the dead

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The Relationships with the City

2.1 Relationships with the City

2.2 Urban cemeteries

3

Design Approaches

3.1 References analysis

3.2 Places for the dead and landscape

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Introduction The architecture usually associated with different types of structures and spaces that are aimed to serve for the individuals and the masses. The main issues raised by the architectural society in the last decades are all conected with life and increased health, the air, greenery and new technologies, transforming the building into the smart object.

The death is never mentioned in this story, even though the developments connected with the death and architecture have also been changing.

What we are used to associate with the death and its architecture are, first of all, cemeteries, memorials, columbariums, necropolis, etc. However, nowadays rethinking and redefine these peaceful spaces are keen questions for many cities. Historically, the burial places were open spaces and, in towns, one of the few public spaces available.

Most of them were built in the periphery of the city and then with the growth of the city, were absorbed and became part of it. Then, these spaces originally designed for the dead, sometimes behave as “oases�, creating a strong relationship between the world of the living and the dead.

What can be new places for dead and which role they can play in cities today?

Important Research Aspects + Analyse funerary cults in different religions + Define the places for dead and analyse its components + Discover the relationships between the places for dead and the city + Analyse the design approaches to places for dead + Modern funeral home functioning

The aim of this research is to propose a multi-faith cemetery system with integrated funeral home which can become not just a interment place but a museum narrating the story of these who have been buried in the cemetery, those who have become a part of the history of the city.

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1 8

What are the Places for the Dead?

Fragment of the painting “Isle of the Dead” by Arnold Böcklin 9

Humans have been always ritualizing the death. As man transitioned from hunting and gathering to agriculture, it appeared the need for a dedicated space for burials. With the shift to agriculture, the development of religion often followed with ideas of the life after the death. Services and ceremonies with chanting, dance, treasures and provisions were components of the ritual carrying the dead to the next life. Thus pharaohs and the wealthy of ancient Egypt raised up mounds of stone called stabas, later developing into true pyramids. Mayans and some Native American tribes used caves or carved tombs into mountains and hillsides. Other societies developed their landscapes for the departed horizontally instead of vertically. Etruscans constructed elaborate necropoli with streets dug into the earth like trenches and large structures resembling homes containing several rooms with stone beds. Like the Etruscans, ancient Greeks also constructed necropoli with group tombs; however, later the custom transitioned to individual graves [26].

The chariot race, a recurring theme in Attic funerary art, may evoke the funeral games held in honor of legendary heroes

Ancient Greek and Roman funerary practices shaped Western attitudes towards death.

Philippe Ariès, one of the most important historian who worked regarded the change in the western attitudes towards death, depicted the changing of spaces for dead through the history. According to his studies the spaces for dead have been changing due to different social beliefs across all the human history. For instance, in antiquity there was a fear of the impurity of the dead and burial was not allowed within the city. In the beginning of the Christian epoch, in Rome, the dead were placed in a distance from the city, close enough to be visited but far enough to prevent any disturbance, usually by the main gates or along the leading roads [1, 2]. In middle ages burial took place principally in churchyards until the 19th century. Concerns about hygiene in the mid-19th century leaded in many town and city churchyards being closed. This was followed by the development of larger buried spaces, often on urban outskirts.

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Burial places perhaps had an even greater role than just utilitarian and social functions.

According to Lewis Mumford they could be seen as a fixed meeting place that could cause the appearing of settlements: “Amid the uneasy wandering of Palaeolithic man, the dead were the first to have a permanent dwelling – in a cavern, a mound marked by a cairn, a collective barrow etc. These were landmarks to which the living probably returned at intervals to commune with the ancestral spirits. Though food gathering and hunting did not encourage the permanent occupation of a single site, the dead at least could claim that privilege” [35]. The first permanent meeting place for the early human beings was the home of the ancestral spirits, the shrine of a god, and, with it, the embryo of a city to which primitive human beings returned for security and secrecy [50].

The spaces for death were not just a burial place, but through the history it got different meanings. These places also became a resting place for the elderly, a playground for children, a meeting spot for lovers and a place to conduct business as well as to dance, gamble and socialise – a highly heterogeneous, if not heterotopian, place that would eventually be interrogated by ‘enlightened’ concerns and replaced by utopian designs [2]. At times the cemeteries resembled a fair: with jugglers, theatrical bands and musicians all vying for attention. The church authorities did try to restrict such activities and intolerance became more apparent by the eighteenth century, but ‘for more than a thousand years people had been perfectly adapted to this promiscuity between the living and the dead’ [2]. Cemeteries were open spaces and, in towns, one of the few public spaces available. Indeed, shops and houses developed above the charnel houses.

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1.1.

Defining the Places for Dead There is no clear definition of what different types of places for dead are. What is the difference between cemetery, churchyard, burial ground, mass grave, war cemetery, etc.? Rethinking the work of Julie Rugg [45] where the author rises the debates of defining different types of burial places of the USA, Australia and Europe through comparing some of their specific features, it was applied the similar approach in the attempt to define the places for dead all around the world, of any religious or believes.

Thereby, different places for dead around the world were compared through a range of specific features. The comparison shown that despite the fact that all the places for dead are different from each other meanwhile some of them are very similar, it can be formed the definition of these places. Based on this definition all the types of the places for dead can be interpreted.

The starting point of the analysis was to select the characteristics which occur to be relevant for understanding the places for dead.

Defining features 01. physical characteristics;

location of the place

boundary

internal organization / Layout

internal organization / Section

02. the site’s ability to promote or protect the individuality of the deceased; 03. ownership; 04. purpose; 05. sacredness

pilgrimage

protection from inappropriate activity

permanence of graves

These features are described further.

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01. Physical characteristics

Any place for dead has a number of obvious physical properties. The most immediate of these are its location, boundary, internal organization in terms of layout and section.

Though one of important aspects of the location of a place for dead is its closeness to a religious institution (church/temple) or mausoleum, there can be distinguished three main location types of a place for dead in relationship with the city, among them are: in the historical city-center; in the modern city-center (peripheral initially that become central nowadays); in the periphery of a city.

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Location of the place

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in rural landscapes

Bedford House Cemetery, Leper, Belgium

Churchyard, New Brunswick Eastern Shore, Canada

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in the historical city-center

Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow, Russia

Old Jewish Cemetery nearby Pinkas Synagogue, Prague, Check republic

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overtaken by the urban sprawl

Zavalnoie Cemetery, Tobolsk, Russia

Churchyard of St Lawrence’s Church, Broughton, UK

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in the periphery

Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark

Rogozhskoye Cemetery around Orthodox Old-Rite Church, Moscow periphery, Russia

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All the instances of the places for dead have an established perimeter, that can be formed by the natural barrier or artificial ones. Among the artificial ones can be distinguished completely blind borders and transparent ones. Commonly, a more substantial structure is used: either a high wall or railings, or a combination of the two. The boundary structure is by no means an intrinsic feature of the site.

Boundary are interrupted by an entrance that declares the meaning of the site either literally or symbolically.

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Boundary

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established blind

established transparent

Pozieres Memorial cemetery,

Silver Brook Cemetery, Philadelphia, USA

Ovillers-la-Boisselle, France

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established mixed

natural

Tyne Cot Cemetery, West Flanders,

Cementerio de Fisterra, Spain

Belgium

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Speaking about the layout of the places for dead it is meant mainly the way the graves / tombs are distributed. Even so in the many cases the location of the graves follows an organized nature, it can be as well randomly arranged. For example, the graves at Indonesia’s Muslim cemeteries, in particular, in Pangkal Pinang, are not planned.

Instead, the day someone dies a family member asks the cemetery caretaker to find space, at which point the family will hire a gravedigger [13].

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Internal organization / Layout

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linear homogeneous distribution

Langemark German Military Cemetery,

American Military Cemetery,

Belgium

Cambridgeshire, Great Britain

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linear homogeneous distribution

Jewish Cemetery, Fez, Morocco

Har HaMenuchot Cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel

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linear heterogeneous distribution

Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Muslim Cemetery, Monastir, Tunisia

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non-linear distribution

Nueva Esperanza Cemetery, Lima, Peru

Muslim Cemetery Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia

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organic distribution

Lilla Bjärs Cemetery, Gotland, Sweden

Viking Burial Grounds Lindholm Høje, Denmark

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Referring to the section of the places for dead, the places can have multilevel structure or a flat one. In some cases the multilevel structures is a sequence of following the landscape nature of the plot, but in many other examples it’s a willing design.

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Internal organization / Section

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flat structures

Chuquicamata cemetery, Chile

Saint Louis Cemetery, New Orleans, USA

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multilevel structures

Santa Rosa cemetery, Peru

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MontjuĂŻc Cemetery, Barcelona, Spain

multilevel structures

Catacombs of Paris, France

Har HaMenuchot cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel

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There can be distinguished four main types of graves: marked grave; unmarked grave; anonymous marked grave; multiple bodies per grave.

Marked graves give a possibility memorializing a particular individual: the identity of the deceased can be enshrined in the site’s internal order. Implicit in the landscaping of a cemetery is the ability of users to locate a specific grave.

Multiple bodies per grave as in case of mass graves happens when burial has taken place on a large scale thence the bodies lack individual identity. A specific example of anonymous marked grave could be war cemeteries, which principal feature is a commitment to identifying and differentiating the deceased.

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02. Site’s Ability to Promote / Protect the Individuality

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marked grave

unmarked grave

Portuguese National Cemetery, Richebourg

Phillips Cemetery, Alabama, USA

anonymous marked grave

multiple bodies per grave

The 4th MarDiv Cemetery, 1945,

Mass Grave of the dead in the Great

Iwo Jima, Lapan

Patriotic War, Saratov region, Russia

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03. Sacredness

Sacredness may be defined in religious terms but can also include an assessment of pilgrimage to the site, its permanence, and its ability to act as a context for grief.

Although some burial places are opened after rituals that consecrate all or part of the site, they are for the most part seen sacred just as the site “regarded with respect”.

Much of this respect base largely on the fact that the site acts as a context for grief, and it is the bereaved that need to be protected from inappropriate activity deemed “disrespectful”.

“Pilgrimage” can be used to describe visits to a burial place for the purpose of tending or viewing a particular grave. Several reasons could be distinguished for visiting graves: the private and personal [2]; the overtly or inadvertently political [25]; and the recreational [44]. In the case of the cemetery, visiting the site is manly a private and personal activity.

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Pilgrimage - the reason of visiting a grave - varies from: private and personal; overtly or inadvertently political; recreational.

War cemeteries as well as mass graves often serve more as means of recalling the horror of a particular catastrophe than as a context for commemorating the death of any particular person. The pantheon transcends the local context and can often have political significance. Therefore, visits to the site tend to be dominated more by an element of pilgrimage and even sightseeing / recreational than by grief at the loss of a loved one.

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Pilgrimage

45

recreational

People taking sunbath in Assistens Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark

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personal

political

Visitors on the Cemetery Visiting Day,

Political leaders are laiding a wreath at the

Newark Cemetery, USA

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Moscow, Russia

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One of places for dead foundation reasons is a desire to offer protection and privacy both to the corpse and to the bereaved [33].

It can be distinguished different levels of protection of the places: strictly protected; protected; not-protected.

For instance, in the UK cemeteries are protected by a combination of legislative acts and popular morality on what is appropriate. Thus, in some of the older Victorian cemeteries, the areas still in use are strictly regulated, but policy becomes more relaxed in the older areas of the site, since their importance as a place for grief has passed with time [15].

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Protection from inappropriate activity

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The level of permanence can be described in terms of immutability of the place for the dead itself. For example, the sacred nature of churchyards is further signalled by their degree of permanence. But as well the permanence of the graves themselves contribute to the level of permanence: the graves can be attached forever to the family, therefore family feels the connection with the place for dead; the graves are rented that’s why they are getting temporary nature; Early cemeteries offered burial rights “in perpetuity�, granting families rights over burial plots from which the remains would never be removed. In many areas of Southern Europe, instead skeletal remains could be removed after a period and a grave then is reused. However, in Britain after the Reformation and in the USA, the overt reuse of graves did not become part of the burial culture: burial rights granted in perpetuity guaranteed that graves would never be disturbed and the remains would stay intact [15].

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The permanence of graves

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All the places for dead are taken care or by some religious or secular institutions. As a secular institution a public organization can act as a municipality, for instance, or as a private one. In many European countries, the municipality has dominated the provision of cemeteries, which tend to be managed as any other local service.

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04. Ownership

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religious institution

secular institution

Old St. Paul’s Churchyard managed by

Private secular Glenwood Cemetery,

Lutheran Church, North Carolina, USA

Washington, USA

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The interment of the dead is the primary function of the places for dead, however, the population represented there is a key factor. For the most part places for dead serve a complete community, with the catchment area being an entire district or town.

The purpose of the place for dead can overcome just the community’s need for burial space. The motive given to its foundation changes over time.

Places for dead can expresses a nation grief and keeps in memory an important part of the nation history. They can be devoted for national heroes, those who died as a consequence of conflict, which also sets their chronological pattern of establishment and their role in expressing the national identity.

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05. Purpose

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complete community

minority burials

burials

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Ohlsdorf Cemetery was established as

Segregated Old Jewish cemetery section

a non-denominational and multi-regional

from the Central Catholic part on the

burial site outside of Hamburg, Germany

Zentralfriedhof cemetery, Viena, Austria

military burials

mass burials

Small American flags adorn the graves of

Mass Graves of the Nazi victims, south-

soldiers buried in the military section of

west of Bergen, Germany.

Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw, USA

The Bergen-Belsen Memorial was raised there after

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The Definition

The Place for Dead is a plot with established boundaries and the ability of the space to facilitate burial carried out in an appropriately ritualised way. It is not simply a place of disposal, but it’s “a certain sector of space delimited by certain a priori formulated resolutions, according to which it is there that funeral practices consistent with religious, ethnic, cultural (that is customary) and other easily defined needs of a given community, will be carried out” [28].

Montmartre Cemetery,

Rural cemetery in

Panteón de Belén,

Paris, France

Kuzomenskie Sands,

Guadalajara, Mexico

Murmansk region, Russia

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physical characteristics Places for dead are generally located close to but not necessarily within settlements.

They can extremely vary in size but all of the places have natural boundaries or are surrounded either by a high wall or railings or by a mix of these. A secure boundary achieves two goals: protecting the dead from disturbance and isolating the dead from the living. Many places for dead have an entrance as an interuption of the boundary which declares the meaning of the site either literally or symbolically. For example, the entrance gates of PeĂ re Lachaise Cemetery were surmounted by two hourglasses.

These images, indicating the termination of life, eternity and the passage of time, were not used in any other sort of context. Thus both the boundary and the entrance gate define the place for dead as a separate place with a special purpose.

Portuguese National Cemetery,

Aerial view of the 5th MarDiv

Graves cover and limited by a

Richebourg

Cemetery, 1945, Iwo Jima,

hillside in Hong Kong

Japan

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sacredness Visiting the site is mainly a private and personal activity. The majority of visitors have friends or family buried at the site, and the interest in the site is usually restricted to a particular town.

The 19th century places for dead are often a part of a local history, partly because of its use over generations, partly because it tended to flourish in periods of rapid urban growth. The high rate of visits over a prolonged period of time means that the site becomes sacred and is getting some degree of permanence. Places for dead which are owned by religious constitutions could be seen as places which sacred nature is protected from the “unholy� dead [18].

purpose The interment of the dead is the principal function of the places for dead, however the population represented by the dead is an important consideration. Generally they serve a complete community, with the catchment area being an entire district or town.

It doesn’t mean that the site does not contain internal demarcation. For example, in many places for dead it is common the demarcations between Catholic and Protestant sections, nevertheless despite the segregation, these minority communities still remain a part of the whole [40].

The motive given to the foundation of a place changes over time. It varies form concerns over public health and a desire to offer protection and privacy both to the corpse and to the bereaved [33] or be a way of demonstrating a degree of civic pride [4].

One of the most evident examples which expresses a nation grief and keeps in memory an important part of the nation history is a war cemetery that serves for those who died as a consequence of conflict, which also sets the chronological pattern of establishment and plays the role in expressing the national identity.

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the site’s ability to promote / protect the individuality Places for dead offer a context for memorialising a particular individual. Some places for dead provide the ability to its users to locate a specific grave and thus the site is divided by roads and paths and each grave has a particular “address”, registered as such in the site’s documentation and so giving each family a sense of ownership of and control over a particular plot. However some places for dead doesn’t follow this strict nature: graves often can have theirs markers, but the sense of each grave having a particular address is far less obvious. In many countries nowadays the overt reuse of graves which appeared after in history is not a part of the burial culture: burial rights granted in perpetuity guaranteed that graves would never be disturbed and the remains would stay intact. It gives families space for “an anchor”, as an expression both of grief and of status [7].

ownership The specific feature of some places for dead is that the ownership is principally secular. For instance, in many European countries, the municipality has been the main owner of these places. Private enterprise as well has served as a leading agency for cemetery establishment, in the USA, through private corporations; and in the UK in the 19th century through joint stock companies. In most cases the involvement of religious authorities tends to be marginal, although there are some exceptions. For example, in Denmark and Sweden Church authorities have maintained a degree of control over the expansion of burial facilities [38].

The places for dead could be located close to the temples / churches / mausoleums.

It implies that they are owned by the religious institutions. Mainly churchyards could be seen as one of the oldest place for the dead since they date back for centuries and were in use in Europe from around the eighth century and many, particularly rural, churchyards still remain in use. Meanwhile, in urban locations they are often not introduced in modern local historical narratives. The connection to a place of ritual religious significance has, in the past, defined the reason for the use of churchyards: it was believed that benefits in the afterlife could be secured by being buried in land considered to be holy; before the Reformation, the presence of the dead immediately outside the Church was a reminder to living to pray for the souls of the deceased.

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Categories of Places for Dead pantheon

Pantheon in Paris, France

pilgrimage: political

“temple�- yard

All Saints Churchyard, Highweek

ownership: Church

burial ground

burial ground

Gardens of peace, Muslim Burial Ground, London, UK 64

purpose: Minority burials

military cemetery

American Military Cemetery,

purpose: Military burials

Margraten, Netherlands

mass graves

1918 Influenza Mass Grave,

purpose: mass graves

Winfield, USA

common cemetery

Bolshevolzhskoye Municipal

purpose: complete

Cemetery, Dubna, Russia

community burials 65

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1.2.

Components of Places for the Dead Places for Dead can be quite complex mechanisms with a lot of elements. It’s possible to distinguish different structures that serve for the dead, among them:

Buried in the ground 1.1.Graveyards

Buried in the structure 2.1. Columbariums 2.2. Mausoleums 2.3. Burial vaults 2.4. Crypts

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Buried in the ground 1.1. graveyards

Rosecrans National cemetery, San Diego, USA

etymology

Latin

Old English

Modern English mid 18th century

gravis

grafan + gerd

heavy, serious

dig

graveyard

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Buried in the structures 2.1. columbarium

Columbarium by Aldo Rossi

etymology

Latin

Greek

Modern English mid 18th century

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columba

columbarium

pigeon

pigeon-house

columbarium

2.2. mausoleum

Lenin’s Mausoleum

etymology

Greek

Latin

Late Middle English late 15th century

mausĹ?leion

mausoleum

the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria

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2.3. burial vaults

Family Vault, Arganil, Portugal,

etymology

Latin

Old French

Middle English mid 16th century

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volvere

voute

to roll

to turn (a horse)

vault

2.4. crypts

Pasteur Crypt, Paris, France

etymology

Greek

Latin

Late Middle English late 15th century

kruptos hidden

crypta

crypt cavern

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1.3.

Funerary Cults in Different Religions Funerals are important events in demarcating but also in erasing boundaries between the living and the dead. As a routine event involving many, it is possible to summarize specific elements due to varying cultural and religious rites that are themselves developing into new paradigms. The term funeral is broad and refers to the row of events preceding the disposal: a wake, a memorial or religious service and disposal itself.

Carrying of the deceased to the burial site may also be a part of a ritual. Depending on the culture, religion or individual preferences not all the elements may be present. Even if funerals are formulaic the variations to the paradigm may happen without blurring the primary function of the ritual [16].

This chapter analysis how funerary cults change from religion to religion.

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Christian funeral traditions The death is the passage from the physical world to the afterlife, where the deceased’s soul will live in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory.

At the end of time, when Christ returns, the bodies will be resurrected.

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After the death After the death, a priest should be contacted so that the necessary rites can be administered and the funeral planning process can begin. It is common for local churches to have relationships with Catholic or Catholic-friendly funeral homes, and the deceaseds’ priest, your priest, or a local priest can point you in the right direction for finding a funeral home.

Funeral Masses may not be held on Holy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter), Good Friday (the Friday before Easter), Holy Saturday (the Saturday before Easter), or Easter Sunday. Funeral Masses are also prohibited on the Sundays during Advent (the period starting on the fourth Sunday before December 25 through December 25), Lent (the 40-day period before Easter), and the Easter Season (the 50-day period after Easter). A Funeral Mass may be held on Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), though ashes would not be distributed in the church. Catholic funerals are held in Catholic churches, though they may also be held in the chapels of Catholic assisted living or care facilities or in the chapels at Catholic cemeteries.

Viewing and Wake The Vigil is a prayer service usually held the evening before the funeral.

Much like a viewing or a wake, family and friends gather in the home of the deceased, in the funeral home, or in the church to pray and remember the deceased. A priest or deacon usually presides over the prayers, though a layperson with knowledge of the prayers and traditions may preside in the event that a priest or deacon is not available.

Funeral Service Priests lead the Funeral Mass, and may also lead the funeral liturgy (service). If a priest is not available, deacons may lead the funeral liturgy. If a deacon is not available, a layperson with knowledge of the liturgy and traditions may lead the service. However, only a priest or a deacon may delivery the homily (sermon), which will also serve to remember the deceased by incorporating examples from the deceased’s life.

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*Specific funeral arrangements Throughout the service, no matter who is leading, laypeople may participate as readers, musicians, pallbearers, ushers, and in other usual roles.

The music played at the Funeral Mass should be appropriate church music; popular or non-religious music is not appropriate. However, the family of the person who died may coordinate with the priest to have special or especially meaningful hymns, psalms, or readings included in the Mass.

Interment The Rite of Committal is the Catholic interment service, at which the body is finally buried or interred. The Rite of Committal may take place at a grave site, mausoleum crypt or tomb, or columbarium (in the event that the body was cremated). Family and friends gather together with a priest or deacon to pray over the body one last time. In order to make the burial or interment site a sacred place for the deceased, the priest or deacon will bless the place before the body or remains are placed inside. After the site has been blessed, the body or remains will be committed to the earth. The priest or deacon will then recite more prayers, and then everyone will join in to say the Lord’s Prayer.

Cremation Historically, the Catholic Church has not supported cremation. However, these days it is acceptable for a Catholic to be cremated. That said, most churches prefer that the body be present for the Funeral Mass, meaning that cremation should occur after the Funeral Mass. Remains should be buried in the ground or at sea or entombed in a columbarium, and should not be scattered.

Eulogies and tributes The Vigil is the appropriate time to eulogize the deceased or pay any fraternal or civil tributes.

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Christian funeral ceremony specific features

body position

podium

The body is positioned centrally close to

In the space it should be present a point

the sanctuary point (altar in the church

from where the funeral mass will be taken

/ cross in the funeral home) with feet towards to it

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way of praying

priest position

During the ceremony mourners sits in the

The Priest carries out the funeral mass

benches or chairs

staying behind the coffin

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Hindu funeral traditions Life and death are part of the concept of samsara, or rebirth. The ultimate goal is to become free from desire, thereby escaping samsara and attaining moksha, the transcendent state of salvation. Once moksha is attained, the soul will be absorbed into Brahman, the divine force and ultimate reality.

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After the death As soon as death occurs, those gathered will avoid unnecessary touching of the body, as it is seen as impure.

Preparations for the funeral begin immediately. The funeral should take place as soon as possible—traditionally, by the next dusk or dawn, whichever occurs first. A priest should be contacted and can help guide in the decision-making process and direct the family to a Hindu-friendly funeral home.

*Preparing The Body Many Hindu funeral homes recognize the importance of the family washing the body and will allow the family to prepare the body. If this is not possible, the funeral home may wash and dress the body. For the ritual washing, the deceased’s head should be facing southward. A lighted oil lamp as well as a picture of the deceased’s favorite deity should be kept by the deceased’s head. Traditionally, for the “abhisegam” (holy bath), the body is washed in a mixture of milk, yogurt, ghee (clarified butter), and honey. The body may also be washed in purified water. While the body is being washed, those washing should recite mantras. Once the body is sufficiently cleaned, the big toes should be tied together, the hands should be placed palm-to-palm in a position of prayer, and the body should be shrouded in a plain white sheet. If the person who died was a married woman who died before her husband, she should be dressed in red.

Viewing and wake Hindus generally hold a brief wake before cremation. The body should be displayed in a simple, inexpensive casket. “Vibuti” (ash) or “chandanam” (sandalwood) should be applied to the forehead of a man, and turmeric should be applied to the forehead of a woman. A garland of flowers should be placed around the neck, and holy basil should be placed in the casket.

During the wake, family and friends gather around the casket and may recite hymns or mantras. At the end of the wake, before the body is removed for cremation, many Hindus place “pinda” (rice balls) near the casket. At the end of the wake, the casket is removed feet-first and brought to the place of cremation.

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Funeral Service The casket is carried on a stretcher and walked to the cremation site, though it is acceptable to transport the body in a vehicle. If a vehicle, such as a hearse, is used for transportation, the eldest male relative (known as “karta�) and another male family elder should accompany the casket. It is customary that only men attend the cremation.

Most crematories allow ceremonies before the cremation and allow guests to be present at the cremation itself.

*Specific funeral arrangements The body should be brought into the crematorium feet-first, ideally with the feet facing south. Those gathered may pray, and then the karta will perform the ritual circling of the body. At this point, the body is ready for cremation, and should be placed into the incinerator feet-first.

Cremation Traditionally, all Hindus;except babies, children, and saints;are cremate.

Historically, Hindu cremations take place on the Ganges River in India.

The family builds a pyre and places the body on the pyre. The karta will circle the body three times, walking counter-clockwise so that the body stays on his left, and sprinkling holy water on the pyre. Then the karta will set the pyre on fire and those gathered will stay until the body is entirely burned.

The day after the cremation, the karta will return to the crematory and collect the ashes. Traditionally, the ashes should be immersed in the Ganges River, though more and more other rivers are becoming acceptable substitutes. For Hindus living outside of India, there are companies that will arrange for the shipment of the cremated remains to India and will submerge the ashes in the Ganges.

Eulogies and tributes For Hindus it’s not defined to use eulogies and tributes.

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Hindu funeral ceremony specific features

the body

mourners

The body is surrounded by the devotees

Mourners can stay or sit wherever

all around or the mourners stays in front

they wish

the body

86

way of praying

water

During the wake, family and friends gather

If it’s possible after the cremation the

around the casket and may recite hymns

ashes of the deceased are thrown into the

or mantras sitting or staying

Ganges river

87

88

Jewish funeral traditions Holiness can be attained through following the laws and commandments laid out in the Torah. Though there is no explicit afterlife in Judaism, many Jews believe that after death the soul is judged and those who led perfect lives are let into the World to Come, while those who did not must wait for one year to enter the World. Some Jews also believe that when the Messiah comes every person will be resurrected.

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After the death When a Jew dies, those who will mourn the death should recite the prayer “Dayan HaEmet,” recognizing God’s power as the “true judge.” A rabbi or funeral home should be contacted immediately. According to Jewish law, the body must be interred as soon as possible from the time of death, avoiding the burial on Saturday or another holy day.

The body should not be left unattended from the moment of death. Thus the rabbi or funeral home can help coordinate a “shomer” (guardian) for the purposes of staying with the body. In addition, the funeral home will begin to make arrangements for the funeral service and burial, coordinate with the family’s rabbi or assist the family in identifying an appropriate rabbi, and put the family in touch with the local “chevra kadisha” (burial society) if one exists.

*Preparing The Body To prepare the body for burial, it must be washed “rechitzah”, purified, and dressed by members of the chevra kadisha. This process is called “taharah,” which refers to both the specific act of ritual purification and the general process of preparing the body. Men should wash the body of a man and women should wash the body of a woman. Once the body is washed, the body must be purified with water. The “taharah,” is executed either by fully submerging the body in a “mikvah” (ritual bath) or by pouring a continuous stream of water over the body. The body is then fully dried and dressed in a simple white shroud (“tachrichim”), which should be made out of a simple fabric such as linen or muslin. Men may also be buried in a “kippah” (a religious skullcap, also known as a “yarmulke”) and “tallit” (a prayer shawl, also known as a “tallis”).

Viewing and wake There is no generally no viewing, visitation, or wake in Jewish tradition.

Before the funeral service, the family will gather and participate in a rite known as “keriah,” in which a visible part of clothing—such as a lapel, shirt collar, or pocket, for example—is torn as a symbol of mourning. In many communities, the practice has shifted from tearing a piece of clothing to tearing a black ribbon attached to a lapel, shirt collar, or pocket.

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Funeral service The funeral consists of prayers like “El Maleh Rachamim,” and the Mourner’s Blessing, called “Mourner’s Kaddish,” among others, a eulogy, and the reading of psalms. Jewish funerals can take place in a variety of locations. Some funerals are exclusively graveside; others occur in multiple locations, starting at the synagogue, or a funeral home, and then processing to the cemetery. After the funeral service, all mourners should follow the hearse to the place of interment.

*Specific funeral arrangements Jewish law prescribes that the casket, known as an “aron,” must be a simple wooden box, commonly made out of pine, without any metal. In this way, the casket and the body are both entirely biodegradable. Some Jewish caskets may have holes drilled into the bottom to accelerate the rate at which the body will decompose.

Cremation For Orthodox Jews, cremation is not acceptable and the body should be buried, intact, in the ground. Although, cremation is opposed by Conservative Jews, a Conservative rabbi may still perform a funeral for a person who has been cremated but will not be present for the interment of the ashes. For Reform Jews, however, cremation is becoming an accepted practice, and most Reform rabbis will perform a funeral and interment for someone who has been cremated.

Interment At the burial or interment site, the rabbi will say a few prayers, all will again recite the Mourner’s Kaddish, and the casket or urn will be interred. It it is traditional for all mourners to place dirt into the grave, either with hands or with the back of a shovel.

Eulogies and tributes There may be one or more eulogies delivered at the funeral service, and they may be delivered by family members or by the rabbi. Flowers are traditionally not present at the funeral service. Instead, donations are often made to an appropriate charity in the name of the deceased.

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Jewish funeral ceremony specific features

body position

shomerim

The body is a central point of the ceremo-

The body is never left alone until after

ny space

burial, as a sign of respect. The people who sit with the dead body are called Shomerim

92

way of praying

family

Mourners stands around the body praying

Prior to the service, family members of the deceased gather together in a separate room and wait until the service is about to begin

93

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Islamic funeral traditions Most part of Muslims commonly believe that the good actions in life will allow the entry into Paradise on the Judgment day, also called the Last Day, when the world will be destroyed. Until this day, the dead will remain in their tombs, and those heading for Paradise will experience peace while those heading for Hell will experience suffering.

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After the death As soon as death has occurred, those present should say, “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un” (“Verily we belong to Allah, and truly to Him shall we return”). Those present should close the deceased’s eyes and lower jaw, and cover the body with a clean sheet. They should also make “dua’” (supplication) to Allah to forgive the sins of the deceased.

According to Islamic law (“shariah”), the body should be buried as soon as possible from the time of death, which means that funeral planning and preparations begin immediately. A local Islamic community organization should be contacted as soon as possible, and they will begin to help make arrangements for the funeral service and burial, assist the family in identifying an appropriate funeral home, and coordinate with the funeral home.

*Preparing The Body To prepare the body for burial, it must be washed (“Ghusl”) and shrouded (“Kafan”). Close same-sex family members are encouraged to give Ghusl, though in the case of spousal death the spouse may perform the washing.

The body should be washed three times. If, after three washings, the body is not entirely clean, it may be washed more, though ultimately the body should be washed an odd number of times. The body should be washed in the following order: upper right side, upper left side, lower right side, lower left side. Women’s hair should be washed and braided into three braids.

Once clean and prepared, the body should be covered in a white sheet, first the right side and then the left side, until all three sheets have wrapped the body. The shrouding should be secured with ropes, one tied above the head, two tied around the body, and one tied below the feet.

The body should then be transported to the mosque (“masjid”) for funeral prayers, known as “Salat al-Janazah.” and be put in a position with the face toward the qiblah (direction of Makkah).

Viewing and wake The body should be buried as soon as possible after death, thus there is no viewing before the funeral.

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Funeral service Salat al-Janazah (funeral prayers) should be performed by all members of the community. Though the prayers should be recited at the mosque, they should not be recited inside the mosque; instead, they should be performed in a prayer room or study room, or in the mosque’s courtyard.

Those praying should face the “qiblah”—that is, toward Mecca—and form at least three lines, with the male most closely related to the person who died in the first line, followed by men, then children, then women. Funerals often take place at night because that is when Mohammed was buried.

After Salat al-Janazah has been recited, the body should be transported to the cemetery for burial. Traditionally, only men are allowed to be present at the burial, though in some communities all mourners, including women, will be allowed at the gravesite.

Cremation Cremation is forbidden for Muslims.

Interment The grave should be dug perpendicular to the qiblah, and the body should be placed in the grave on its right side, facing the qiblah. Those placing the body into the grave should recite the line “Bismilllah wa ala millati rasulilllah” (“In the name of Allah and in the faith of the Messenger of Allah”).

Once the body is in the grave, a layer of wood or stones should be placed on top of the body to prevent direct contact between the body and the soil that will fill the grave. Then each mourner present will place three handfuls of soil into the grave. Once the grave has been filled, a small stone or marker may be placed at the grave so that it is recognizable.

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Islamic funeral ceremony specific features

body position

time of the day

The body is placed in the courtyard of

Often Islamic funerals are taken

Makkah in front of the Imam in a position

at the sundown

with the face toward the Qiblah (direction of Makkah)

98

way of praying

Imam position

All participants in the prayer divide them-

The Imam stands beside the body facing

selves into odd rows and stay behind the

the Qiblah at Mecca with the followers

body

behind him in lines

99

100

Buddhist funeral traditions Buddhists commonly believe that life and death are a part of a cycle known as samsara, in which one’s actions in this life and all previous incarnations of life lead to further reincarnation. The ultimate goal for many Buddhists is to free oneself from all desires and all notions of self. In doing so, one liberates oneself from samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth), at which point one will attain enlightenment and reach the state of nirvana.

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After the death As soon as death occurs, family members and close friends should clean and dress the body. Religious memorial services are traditionally held on the third, seventh, forty-ninth, and one-hundredth day after the death, though these days can be flexible if they don’t fit into the family’s schedule. The services may be held at a family home or at a monastery, and the family may choose to limit the participation to only family members or may invite the larger community to participate. “Dana” is performed, which is an act that purifies the mind of the giver and allows for blessings to be given to the Sangha (roughly translated as “community,” and one of the Three Jewels) and subsequently transferred to the deceased.

*Preparing The Body The dead body should not be dressed in fancy clothes, but rather in the everyday clothes that he or she would normally wear.

Viewing and wake If there will be a wake, the room in which the body rests should be calm and peaceful. The body should lie in a simple casket, open for the duration of the wake. An altar may be placed near the casket. Chanting may take place during the wake, and may be performed by monks, laypeople, or may be pre-recorded and played at the wake. However, any chanting must be for practical reasons, such as to aid in the contemplation of the impermanence of life.

Funeral service For the funeral or memorial service, the casket or cremated remains should be placed at the front of the room with an altar placed nearby. As at the wake, monks should be invited to perform the last rite. Entering the space, mourners should approach the altar, bow with their hands and reflect at the altar for a moment. Then they may sit. After the ceremony, the casket is sealed and brought to the funeral hall or to the crematorium. Family members and mourners may carry the casket to the hearse or transportation vehicle, and should follow behind the vehicle in a procession. At this moment it has to be observed a minute of silence as last respects to the deceased.

After the casket is lowered for burial or placed into the furnace. The family 102

may, as they wish, choose to enshrine it in a columbarium, pagoda, or scatter it. Occasions such as the completion of the grave, the installation of the urn into the columbarium, or the scattering of the ashes - a personal matter. The money contributed by relatives and friends can be used to cover funeral expenses or be offered for religious activities and other charities in memory of the deceased. With this the funeral rites come to close.

*Specific funeral arrangements The funeral service and surrounding events should be simple, solemn, and dignified. The funeral is not an appropriate time to display wealth nor should grief be expressed through a display of wealth.

Cremation Cremation is acceptable in Buddhism. If the body is to be cremated, monks may be present at the crematorium and lead chanting. If no monks are present, family members may lead chanting. Cremated remains may be collected by the family the following day, and may be kept by the family, enshrined in a columbarium or stored in mounds called stupas.

Interment If the body is to be buried, monks may be present at the grave site and lead chanting. If no monks are present, family members may lead chanting. Then the casket should be placed into the grave.

Eulogies and tributes An altar during the a wake or the funeral may feature an image of the deceased, candles, flowers, fruit, and incense. A Buddha image should also be set up in front of or beside the deceased’s altar. Monks may be invited to perform Buddhist rites and deliver sermons. During prayer or the delivery of a sermon, head coverings should be removed. Generally, no one in the space should be sitting higher than the monks and all present should stand when the monks stand. White or some plain, sober colour would be appropriate to reflect sombreness of the occasion.

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Buddhist funeral ceremony specific features

body position

altar

The coffin will is the focal point of

An altar can be placed nearby the coffin

the ceremony space, usually it’s located along one of the wall

104

way of praying

monks position

Mourners pray sitting over the carpet

Generally no one in the space should

during the Buddhist ceremony

be sitting higher than the monks

105

106

Comparison of Funerary Cults

Christian

Hindu

Jewish

Islamic

Buddhist

Preparation of the body

Viewing

Funeral service

Specific arrangements

Cremation

Interment

Tributes

performed

partly performed / allowed

107

Comparison of Funerary Ceremonies

Catholic Ceremony

Jewish Ceremony 108

Buddhist Ceremony

Hindu Ceremony 109

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1.4.

Places for the Dead in Different Religions Christian cemetery

Chatolic Monumental Cemetery,

Russian Orthodox Church, Alaska, USA

Milan, Italy

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Hindu cemetery

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Hindu Burial Ground,

Batu Lanchang Hindu Cemetery, Penang,

Bangalore, India

Malaysia

Jewish cemetery

Jewish cemetery in Santiago del Estero,

Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery,

Argentina

Jerusalem, Israel

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Islamic cemetery

Maqbaratul Baqi Cemetery, Medina, Saudi Arabia

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Muslim Cemetery in Macau, China

Buddhist cemetery

Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist Cemetery,

Wide Expanse of Sadness Statues

Kyoto, Tokio

for children who passed before their parents. At the Kongorinji Temple, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

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1.6.

Believes in Afterlife based on the article of Herbert Wright on architectures of the afterlife [55]

If we re-awaken after we die, what shall we see? If the afterlife brings us to some alternative reality, then what kind of arcthitecture it is? Architecture for death have explored through mausoleums and cemeteries, but these are terrestrial constructions. Of corse, some tombs have been created as provisions for the afterlife. In Ancient Egypt, for instance, it was common to be buried with belongings from one’s Earthly life, but also – in the case of pharaohs – with a boat to navigate the river and twelve gates of the underworld that needed to be passed through. Mexican drug lords similarly tend to stock their florid mausoleums with luxuries, as if they expect to re-awaken to a high-life after death.

The main human believes about the life after the death were described or visualised by prophets, writers, artists, poets and filmmakers over the centuries are presented below.

116

Painting by Luciano Scherer

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Stairway to Heaven

“Skyladder” by Cai Guo Qiang, 2015

William Blake transitioned the ladder into a Stairway to Heaven, in his watercolour Jacob’s Dream (around 1800). Peopled by women, some with angel wings, it twists towards a heavenly radiance, like the passage towards light that people recall seeing in near-death experiences. That brings us to A Matter Of Life and Death, the 1946 British film in which a downed airman, played by David Niven, finds himself on the Stairway To Heaven (the film’s title in the USA, although directors Powell and Pressburger actually denied any direct heavenly reference).

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Cloud Nine

John Martin The Courts of God, 1827

Heaven’s clouds, support God’s throne, quintessentially portrayed by Victorian artist John Martin in his epic series of paintings Heaven and Hell from the 1850s. Martin had more heavenly detail to offer in other works. In The Courts of God (1825), beyond a vast rectangular lake bounded by colonnades of Egyptian columns, gleams a great neo-classical citadel of domes and towers (and in one version, a minaret).

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Going Underground

Christ’s Descent into Hell in the Style of Hieronymus Bosch, 1550–60

The subterranean structure of Hell is described by Dante in his Inferno, written 700 years ago. Dante is guided by the poet Virgil down through the Nine Circles of Hell, implying detail about its architecture.

Hieronymous Bosch – and his many followers – produced some of the best-known represents of Hell in paint, like Christ’s Descent into Hell painted by an anonymous follower in the 1560s. It’s a fiery place dotted with Flemish buildings, and a variation on one of Bosch’s great organic architectural innovations: a face as inhabitable structure.

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Soul Limbo

2001: A Space Odyssey by S. Kubrick, 1968

Dante’s deepest level was not fiery, but an icy place where Satan is bound. And his first circle was Limbo. Contemporary limbos are often the familiar world, with the architecture the same and the afterlife seemingly real but unresolved and strange. But from Limbo, there may be escape to another afterlife. In Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the astronaut Bowman is placed in the limbo of a simulated hotel room, before ultimate rebirth as a Star-Child. The set, designed by John Barry, is a hotel room with faux-baroque panelling and furniture, and a luminous gridded floor.

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1.7

The Sublime “Sublimity is that extraordinary and marvelous quality in a discourse which enraptures and transports...”

Boileau

Toward the middle of the eighteenth century sublimity became an aesthetic quality not limited to literature but found throughout the material world.

Diderot’s observations in his account of the Salon of 1767 touched both the range of the subjects that were considered to be sublime and the types of feelings that they evoked: “Everything which astonishes the soul, everything which imparts a feeling of terror leads to the sublime...”. In the 1780s, this new concept of sublimity, became the basis of a wide range of cemetery designs. In the field of architecture, mausoleums, cenotaphs, catacombs, and cemeteries emerged as privileged themes by which the thirst for the sublime could readily be satisfied.

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Egyptian influence

Huber Robert, Capriccio. Rome, 1760

The engravings of Fisher von Erlach depicted the Egyptian pyramids published in 1721 as part of depiction of the Seven Wonders of the World, influenced on a lot of artists.

One of the earliest view inspired by Fisher von Erlach’s pyramids was developed by Charles Michel-Ange Challe, in 1747. His capriccio was inspired by the twin Moeris Pyramids, which Challe interpreted as “a vast funerary precinct replete with numerous monuments, colonnades, arcades, and sarcophagi” [17]. The drawing suggests a central zone with a central mausoleum surrounded by four pyramids.

The painter Hubert Robert rethought Fisher von Erlach’s engravings, infusing them with a grandeur by placing the pyramid close to the picture plane and thereby truncating its form, bringing the viewer closer to a monument which soared high above the earth.

123

Architecture of Life and Death

“Boullee’s funerary architecture derived from a comprehensive vision of the human condition understood as a reflection of the larger cosmic order” [17]. This comprehension of human place in the universe got an architectural expression in his works. For Boullee the order of the Universe could be seen as a change of seasons. Based on this vision Boullee elaborated cemetery gates design.

Celebrating the immensity of nature come reflects in Boullee’s project of 1784 for a cenotaph to Sir Isaac Newton. “In honoring Newton, Boullee was also worshiping the cosmic order with which Newton had, so to speak, identified himself” [17]. That’s why Boullee proposed to bury Newton in the center of a spherical cavity representing alternatively the irradiating sun or the nighttime sky. The exterior of the monument is shaped by a sphere whose perfect form Newton had determined to have been the shape of the earth before it was deformed through rotation.

In the late 18th century Boullee was not alone in attempt to identify the death with the darkness of the earth, a darkness that was also associated with spectacle of the planets and stars in the night sky. Ledoux, for instance, had seen the cemetery for the town Chaux as vast catacombs. “With the city of the dead physically occupying the empty space excavated to provide stone for the city of living, the complementary relationship between life and death was given material form” [17]. To finalize his design Ledoux imagined as well “Elevation of the Cemetery of the Town Chaux” which was actually a scene of the planets.

For these two thinkers the bosom of the earth and the immensity of the sky were two faces of a primitive and universal nature.

124

Boullée, Cemetery Entrance by moonlight, 1785

Boullée, Cénotaphe a Newton, 1784

Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Elévation du cimetière de la ville de Chaux, 1804

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2 126

The City and Places for the Dead

“Cemeteries are a sad, but extremely important theme in architecture. As cities grew, so too did the cemeteries, but it is in the latter that we establish the memories, feelings and physical remains of people and also of cities themselves... �

Aldo Rossi

127

128

2.1.

Relationships with the City

Even if a lot of places for dead were located initially outside of the city, the relationships between them have changed over the time. Some of the cities are still trying to avoid these places or at least to jump over them, some of the cities have cut and changed their structure, and some even have entered into the realm of the dead.

129

Skirting Monumental Cemetery, Milan, Italy

Monumental Cemetery is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy. Designed by the architect Carlo Maciachini (1818–1899), it was planned to consolidate a number of small cemeteries that used to be scattered around the city into a single location.

130

Top view of the Monumental cemetery

Monumental Cemetery of Milan separated

embraced by the fence

from the city with the fence

General Cemetery of San Jose, Costa Rica

In front of this cemetery, the largest of the country, thousands of cars pass everyday that go to or come from the capital city. Most Costa Ricans don’t recognize it, maybe because they don’t even know the characters that it shelters; or maybe because the idea of talking a walk through a cemetery where they don’t know anyone might be weird.

Top view of the General cemetery of San

One of the entrances into the Cemetery

Jose

131

Splitting Washington Cemetery in the Brooklyn borough of New York, USA

Washington Cemetery is an old, historical, and predominantly Jewish burial ground founded in 1850 in Mapleton, Brooklyn, New York, United States. Cemetery is made up of 5 parts, the biggest one is shaped like a pentagon, and bordered on three of its sides by major Brooklyn streets: Ocean Parkway, Bay Parkway, and McDonald Avenue. The cemetery office building is located on the grounds of this part of the cemetery, next to the Bay Parkway station of the F train of the New York City Subway.

Washington Cemetery divided in 5 parts

The view of Washington Cemetery from the F train’s elevated platform.

132

Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Preobrazhenskoye cemetery was consecrated on 23 November (5 December) 1872 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Cemetery was restricted by the Saint-Petersburg - Moscow railway road, but In 1875, an additional area was opened for heterodox graves on another side of the railway. In the post-Soviet era the pedestrian bridge connected two parts of the cemetery over the railway was dismantled and the connecting avenue appeared divided into two parts. In 2008-2009 the transport link was reconstructed.

Top view of the Cemetery

The view from the bridge overpassing the railway road and connecting two parts of the Cemetery

133

Over passing Montmartre Cemetery, Paris, France

Montmartre Cemetery is a cemetery in Paris, that dates to the early 19th century. It is the third largest necropolis in Paris, after the Père Lachaise cemetery and the Montparnasse cemetery. The Pont de Caulaincourt, a metal bridge built in 1888, spans over the 11 hectare cemetery. It has two lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians. The bridge rests on six Doric columns cast high in the cemetery. Its construction is subsequent to the opening of the cemetery, it directly overlooks some tombs and chapels, the end of some almost touching her apron.

134

Buses drive on a motorway over the Mont-

The Montmartre Cemetery with the Rue

martre Cemetery in Paris

Caulaincourt viaduct passing through it

Cemetery La Paz, Bolivia.

Cemetery La Paz is located within the heart of city center, covering an area of about 3km. The cemetery is crossed over by Mi Teleférico, an aerial cable car urban transit system opened in 2014 in the Bolivian city of La Paz. Currently three lines are in operation and seven more lines are in the planning stage.

Washington Cemetery is made up of five

People use cable cars to commute over

“gated cemeteries” separated

buildings containing crypts at a cemetery,

by several local Brooklyn streets

in La Paz, Bolivia.

135

Integrated Cemetery of Navotas, Manila Bay, Philippines

Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is not only a city of twenty million people but is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The lack of space has forced the poorest of the poor to build their homes among the tombs of Navotas Cemetery, located on the shores of Manila Bay. More than 6,000 people live in cramped conditions among and on top of the tombs, which are stacked up to eight coffins high.

Navotas Cemetery, left to the road, con-

The whole families for years have been

trasting in the scale with the city

living among the graves, where they eat, sleep, play ...

136

the City of the Dead, Cairo, Egypt

The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis (Qarafa, el-Arafa), is an Islamic necropolis and cemetery below the Mokattam Hills in southeastern Cairo, Egypt. It is a 4 miles (6.4 km) long (north-south) dense grid of tomb and mausoleum structures, where some people live and work amongst the dead. Some reside here to be near ancestors, some live here after being forced from central Cairo due to urban renewal demolitions and urbanization pressures, other residents immigrated in from the agricultural countryside, looking for work.

Aerial view over the City of the Dead look-

General view of the City of the Dead,

ing to Islamic Cairo

where half a million people live among tombs

137

2.2.

Urban Places for the Dead Urban cemeteries provide a Meeting place for the living as well as a Dwelling place for the dead

138

Horizontal cemetery Low land utilization rate and sprawl

Vertical cemetery More efficient use of space and open space for the citizens

139

140

3

Design Approaches for Places for the Dead

141

142

3.1.

Vertical approach

143

144

Opposing verticality

These vertical cemeteries are designed in order to oppose to the architecture of the living, and tends to proclaim that they were design for other specific motive rather than to accommodate living activities.

145

146

Oslo Vertical Cemetery, Norway

This cemetery concept was presented at the Oslo Conference for Nordic Cemeteries and Graveyards. In the idea the dead would come to rest in a tall, airy skyscraper in the center of the city. It would start out as a simple white framework with an adjoining, permanent crane, which lifts coffins into slots inside the structure. The tower would grow over the years, as this crane would add more and more plots to the network - over time, the building would come to represent the sum of the city’s citizens - a reminder and a memorial at the same time [6].

Bird-eye view on the Yarkon cemetery

New vertical part of the Yarkon cemetery outside of the city of Petah Tikva, Israel

147

Tower of Silence, from the 5th century BCE A Tower of Silence is a circular, raised structure used by Zoroastrians for exposure of the dead, particularly to scavenging birds for the purposes of ex-carnation.

Plan of a typical Parsee “Tower of Silence�. Note the trays for corpses, the connecting drainage channels, the central well, and the other wells. The plan-form is, once again, a formal geometrical arrangement

148

A late-19th-century engraving of a

The top of a Parsee ‘Tower of Silence’,

Zoroastrian Tower of Silence in Mumbai

Dakharma, where the dead bodies are exposed to the elements and to scavenging birds

149

Metropolitan Sepulcher, by Thomas Wilson, 1820

“This grand mausoleum will go far towards completing the glory of London. It will rise in majesty over its splendid fanes and lofty towers—teaching the living to die, and the dying to live for ever.”

In the mid-imperialist flush of the 1800s, a Londoner named Thomas Wilson decided it was about time the city had its very own Egyptian-style pyramid mausoleum, perched atop Primrose Hill (the highest point in the city). It was to be “sufficiently capacious to receive 5,000,000 of the dead”.

Concept Drawings

150

Perspective view

San-Cataldo Cemetery, Modena, Italy

A cube-shaped ossuary is set within a courtyard on the outskirts of Modena, the ossuary is covered in terracotta-coloured render, while the perimeter buildings that enclose the courtyard feature steely blue roofs.

Cortyard view of the cemetery

Bird-eye view of the cemetery

151

152

Mimicry verticality

These vertical cemeteries are designed in order to disappear in the city, they look very much alike as residential buildings, but instead of accommodate the living; they accommodate the dead.

153

The Necropole Ecumenica Memorial, Santos, Brasil

The Memorial Necropole Ecumenica in Santos, Brazil is currently the world’s tallest cemetery. It is a functioning 13 story vertical cemetery. It was built in 1983 and is the highest cemetery in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The Memorial has the capacity to hold 14,000 burial spaces spread over 14 floors with plans to create another 25,00 niches underway. The Memorial Necropole Ecumenica has accommodations for all religions and is also equipped with a first class restaurant, a concert hall, luxuriously furnished rooms, a lake with waterfalls and a conservation garden area filled with exotic animals. With such an extravagant setting this building could be easily mistaken for a high class condominium. It has become a huge tourist attraction in Brazil and has been voted best necropolis in Brazil.

The project of vertical cemetery in Santos, Brazil. The tallest tower has not been constructed yet

154

Cemetery courtyard

Yarkon cemetery outside of the city of Petah Tikva, Israel

At first glance, the multi-tiered jungle of concrete off a major central Israeli highway does not appear unusual in this city of bland high-rises. But the burgeoning towers are ground-breaking when you consider its future tenants: They will be homes not for the living but rather the dead.

Bird-eye view on the Yarkon cemetery

New vertical part of the Yarkon cemetery outside of the city of Petah Tikva, Israel

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3.2.

Landscapes

Reading the green in its formal and symbolic relation with the funerary architecture produces fruitful results to both the large scale that is characteristic of the plant comprehensive income of the city of the dead, and therefore of public ownership, and the small scale of the decoration burial and of remembering. It can be identified different formal landscape models encoded in time and space. The grant is intended to deepen the transmission of archetypes and elements belonging to the plant world, compositional-design on one side and the other cultural-symbolic, in the design of places and forms of burial [5].

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Formal Planting of greenery in architectural forms. Avenues, hedges, parterres and fountains emphasize axial, symmetry and geometric shapes. Search for grandeur and solemnity.

Picturesque Exaltation of nature through the composition of plant masses and winding paths. Taste for the romantic and the eccentric.

Sublime Reminder of the wild and grandiose nature that provokes admiration and fear, pleasure of contemplating extreme places, hostile or inhospitable. Sense of the smallness of man and philosophical reflection on life.

Symbolic Metaphor - the language of flowers and symbolic meaning associated with the single species, tree or flower “in itself.” Metonymy - nutshell of plant presence in the cut flower, “summary” of nature, even petrified and a monument as a symbol of prayer, remembrance and homage.

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formal

picturesque

Cemetery of Punta Arenas, Chilie

United Statesmount Auburn Cemetery, USA

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sublime

symbolic

SkogskyrkogĂĽrden Cemetery,

Jasenovac Memorial Site, Croatia

Stockholm, Sweden

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