Death and Architecture

‘Death is the shrine of nothingness and at the same time the shelter of being.’ Martin Heidegger

 Memorial and architecture became an important focus for architectural historians due to the
primitive fear of the dead and the gods in ancient times.
 The tomb, as the final resting place of the deceased, was considered more permanent than the
houses of the living. It served as a place where the deceased continued to live in the afterlife.
 Funeral structures, cities of the dead, and temples for funeral rites were often built in stone to
endure for eternity.
 The design of funerary architecture aimed to secure the tomb from potential theft and provided
a prospect for the departed in the afterlife.
 Ancient Egyptian tombs reflected the life of the deceased and ensured their well-being in the
afterlife. The representations of the deceased in the tomb were prospective and provided
security against theft.
 Prehistoric tombs, such as tumulus, had practical designs with minimal external appearances
and were perceived as capsules for the dead.
 Funerary structures in different civilizations produced similar solutions for housing,
commemoration, and protection of the dead, characterized by formal arrangements, protection,
mounds, and sophistication.
 Great funerary architecture was characterized by completeness, balance, stillness, and ineffable
perfection.
 The purpose and construction of ancient structures, such as Stonehenge, continue to be
subjects of archaeological research and investigation.

Descent into the earth has long been associated with the realm of the dead, representing a symbolic
passage from the world of the living to the world of the unseen. This transition is often depicted through
architectural elements such as facades, labyrinths, staircases, and ladders. Different cultures have their
own privileged spaces of crossing, such as the "space of fire" and the "space of water." The facade of the
other world can be compared to a theater backdrop, both populated by shadows and illusions,
resembling the houses of the living but leading to dark and bare chambers.

Contemporary funeral architecture has been criticized for reflecting distant examples without
considering the present context. Some argue that it reflects the absence of being rather than the
presence of non-being. However, for architects like Adolf Loos, a tomb and a monument were abstract
symbols representing irreducible architectural forms. The mausoleum, freed from functional obligations,
becomes a space of memory and intimate artistic expression. Loos envisioned a mausoleum for Max
Dvorák, characterized by a simple cubic form made of black Swedish granite. The interior would be
adorned with Oskar Kokoschka's frescoes, creating a space for commemoration and personal reflection.

The word "architecture" itself suggests a contradictory yet inevitable relationship between stone and
life. While architecture is associated with life and light, it is also opposed to death, symbolized by the
coldness of stone and darkness. The architect's task has traditionally been to extend the light of life as
long as possible and create spaces that prevent oblivion. By using durable materials like stone,
architecture provides enduring dwellings for the dead, ranging from pyramids to necropolises. However,
there is a distinction between architecture and art, with architecture serving utilitarian purposes and art
often discomforting us without clear utility.

Funeral art and architecture fulfill utilitarian functions in cemeteries, crematoria, and memorials. They
provide spaces for contemplation of death and make the idea of visiting cemeteries more appealing.
While they serve practical purposes, they also serve as realms of absence, transition, elevation of the
spirits, and collective memory. They bridge the gap between the tangible and intangible, providing
spaces for reflection, remembrance, and connection with the departed.

Cemeteries–landscapes of memory
‘His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and f aintly falling, like the descent of their
last end, upon all the living and the dead.’ James Joyce111

‘When I look through the window of my memories, I see nothing but tombstones.’ Solomon J. Salat112

Cemeteries are symbolic representations of a culture they originate from. In their sanctity, cemeteries
have a significant power in marking a specific place and can therefore play a role in territorial claims,
constructions of identity, patriotic vestiges and so forth. With its mausoleums for the rich, simple tombs,
diverse monuments but also religious and racial ghettos,113 a cemetery mirrors social structure of a city
ever since the novel idea of an individual tomb as a private property for perpetuity became popular and
the space of the cemetery became secularized and secluded from the space of the living. 114 These
spaces are also memorials, especially if they are on actual places where death occurred or if they are
cemeteries that reached their capacity in accommodating the dead. This is the case with probably the
single known example of cemeterial ‘Enlightenment building’, the Cimitero di Santa Maria del Popolo
(1762), known as ‘366 fosse’ or ‘of the 366 graves’ for the burial of the poor in Naples.

Operating cemeteries underwent a transformation in the 19th century, shifting from somber collections
of memento mori to more pleasant spaces located outside of crowded city centers. These new
cemeteries, known as Elysiums, were designed to provide a peaceful and scenic environment for both
the living and the deceased. One notable example of this cemetery reform was the establishment of
Père Lachaise in Paris, which became the first municipal cemetery reflecting changing social attitudes
towards death. The success of Père Lachaise led to the creation of many more cemeteries following a
similar model.

During this time, sentiments surrounding the relationship between the living and the dead were marked
by emotional attachment, with individuals feeling the right to pay proper tribute to their loved ones.
Cemeteries were seen as powerful tools for rethinking social structures and ideals of equality, with
tombs serving as historical records. Architects like Loudon, who designed Southampton Cemetery,
recognized the importance of considering both the deceased and the living in cemetery planning. These
new cemeteries were envisioned as romantic natural settings, providing comfort and solace to visitors as
they commemorated the lives of the departed.

Cemeteries began to incorporate garden-like elements, inheriting the commemorative potential

Nature and landscape played significant roles in the symbolism of eternity and death within cemeteries.
In the American context, the focus shifted towards the importance of nature in cemeteries, surpassing
the prominence of memorials and monuments seen in Père Lachaise. American "garden" or "rural"
cemeteries, such as Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts, became cultural hubs and thriving
public spaces. They served as places of interaction and learning, where historical knowledge was
accumulated within the cemetery borders. These cemeteries offered a more cheerful and elegiac
atmosphere compared to the somber city churchyard burial grounds.

Cemeteries became spaces for the living, marking transitions and passages from everyday life into the
realm of death. They embraced the dual meanings of being shrines of nothingness and shelters for the
living facing mortality. Cemeteries, even today, remain sacred spaces and are increasingly explored in
contemporary architectural design. They are often considered heterotopias, places pregnant with ideas
of utopia. Cemeteries attempt to tame death and provide a sense of perpetuity through their serene
settings and the layering of accumulated time and absence. Some contemporary cemeteries, like Forest
Lawn Cemetery, focus on creating illusions of eternity, sometimes leading to excessive design that has
been compared to Disneyland.

Cemetery landscapes, in general, have the potential to become significant mnemonic devices in
constructing narratives. Similar to literary narratives, landscape narratives are built using tropes such as
metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. Marc Treib proposed four levels of conveying meaning in
landscape design: modifying the natural order of the landscape, incorporating inscriptions or
modifications, introducing architectural structures, and using verbal and symbolic language. Woodland
Cemetery in Enskede-Stockholm exemplifies an approach where the landscape engages visitors in a
deeply individual experience, modulating their behavior and memory retrieval. On the other hand,
Forest Lawn represents a more didactic approach, where the design straightforwardly describes the
desired response from visitors. Woodland Cemetery, designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd
Lewerentz, stands out as an early cemetery landscape that explored mnemonic codes within
architecturally defined episodes.

(Master level thesis-Sabina, TANOVIĆ Master of Science architecture, Technische Universiteit Delft
Engineer of architecture, University of Sarajevo)