Comments on: Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy / Amoretti + Calvi + Ranalli

By: AD Round Up: Halloween Special | ArchDaily

AD Round Up: Halloween Special | ArchDaily — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:31:10 +0000

[...] Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy / Amoretti + Calvi + Ranalli The purpose of the project is the amplification of a small municipals cemetery of Santo Stefano al Mare on the north-west side of Italy in front of the Mediterranean sea. The new intervention is situated on a small land strip between the old cemetery’s wall and the waterfront way. This strip is orientated from east to west (read more…) [...]

By: Al

Al — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:29 +0000

It may recall the berlin memorial, but there is a vast difference between a solid heavy stone block and something that reminds a cheap shoebox, which may contain the dead body in it. Really cheap project. Like a disneyland.

Also reminds me a block of garages. Like you hold your tools there.
And too anonymous. You know that your relative is just one faceless body in a row and who cares which one.

By: jp

jp — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:30:23 +0000

people go there to mourn and remember their dead loved one… You suggest dressing up the cemetary for a party! We celebrate the lives of our dead loved ones by remembering them. We don’t need to be surrounded by some architect’s crazy idea for a cemetary. The space should be pure and respectful. Being “lively” would contradict its respect. Besides, its site gives it enough excitement. You simply have no appreciation for the purity of space because this whole generation, like you, is wrapped up in spectacle and awe. We tend to miss what is really beautiful. Just like you have missed the beauty of this sacred space.

By: borja

borja — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:41:28 +0000

you guys talk about how you see death, but would be wise to see it from the local point of view, a little town in italy, i bet it is christian and traditionally minded

what about their point of view about death? should we change it?

it’s like talking about a church, are they too boring? should they be more amusing? (although everybody dies, and not everybdoy goes to the church)

mathieu, ça te dirait un petit cours d’anglais?

By: Comments on Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy / Amoretti + Calvi + Ranalli | Arch Daily | A Synthetic Architecture

Wed, 06 May 2009 02:58:36 +0000

[...] Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy / Amoretti + Calvi + Ranalli | Arch Daily – The expansion of the Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy is set between the old cemetery and a waterfront way. It consists of a series of cubic crypts each freestanding and set in two rows along a curving line with a path set between. The project’s success comes from its use of such a simple object as the cubic crypt which is then subverted by arraying it into a field, breaking down the idea that architecture is about a singular object, continuous or discrete. The crypts themselves are proportioned to meet the requirements of an interned human body giving an empathic quality to the crypts. Each crypt like the body of the people inside. Though it is a long standing tradition in Architecture for funeral monuments to be an expression of some idea of the person life, it is modern take to make the crypt emphatically relate to the human experience rather than express or represent it. Share / SaveSubscribeBlinklistBloglinesBlogmarksDiggdel.icio.usFacebookFurlMa.gnoliaNewsVineRedditStumbleUponTechnorati [...]

By: Santo Stefano Cemetery by Aldo Amoretti, Marco Calvi & Giancarlo Ranalli « archporn

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:41:02 +0000

[...] archdaily Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Buenos Aires IIIOn the Way to the [...]

By: Richie

Richie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:42:56 +0000

I think the architect was aiming for serenity but I find the blankness of it sort of chilling.

By: jlbr

jlbr — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:12:45 +0000

Interesting debate I must say, some comments are quite interesting. For example, Terry, where exactly did you get the notion that a Catholic cemetery has to be “inward-looking”, I myself am a Catholic and have seen many cemeteries in different countries, Catholic and not-Catholic, and have never realized they had to be “inward-looking”, also, the Italian approach to death is particular in which way exactly? One that dictates they have to build minimalist and “inward-looking” cemeteries perhaps?
I tend to be of the opinion of Opium, who believes the cemetery is a reflection of our own times and societies, if we tend to look at death as a sterilized matter, our cemeteries will look like that too. I recommend an essay by Margaret Watkins, published by the Urban History Review (Canadian publication). She analyses the notion that cemeteries are mirroring the changes in society, to quote her: “The cemetery is a cultural landscape that represents, albeit slowly, social changes in communities.” I believe this cemetery is a sample of that. You contend that the cemetery could not be a seaside promenade, well I ask, why not??? To be catching glimpses of the sea in between the lockers makes the cemetery superior in design, atmosphere and respectfulness than if it was open to the view of the sea?? You really believe that?

By: jsl

jsl — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:04:31 +0000

The photographs remind me of another iconic Italian image…cabanas at the beach, more or less in line, fronting the sea. Regarding others comments, it could be argued that rather than blocking views,the architects chose to frame vistas of the sea, the sky, and the horizon making a more powerful commentary. Also, at what point does minimalist become “sterilized”?

By: Terry Glenn Phipps

Terry Glenn Phipps — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:29:27 +0000

Mathieu has a point that the vast majority of development along the Cote d’Azur (and the Italian Riviera) has been usurious and destructive. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to stop people from building hideous seaside villages and holiday whatnot.

That said, most of the commentary here comes from people, it seems anyway, who have never visited an Italian cemetery. Different cultures do have vastly different approaches to death and the Italian one is very particular.

The main reference I get from this work is Eisenmann’s holocaust memorial in Berlin, which is one of the most successful structures I have ever seen. In Berlin the site lines are such that once you are inside the grid there is an overwhelming sense of the magnitude of death and its inevitability. Once you look around a stone you see another one. However, the monument does have its limits; it is not an infinite labyrinth. Therefore, walking through it you might catch a glimpse of another human being and eventually return to the life of the city beyond.

What I like about this structure is that it does some of the same things. It provides a regular set of glimpses of the Mediterranean sea beyond without becoming some seaside promenade. Instead, as is consistent with Catholic Rite, the site is inward looking and dedicated to its function as necropolis. In that sense it doesn’t ignore its location it simply modulates it to fit the function of cemetery.

Actually, this outward glimpse of the seascape is a fairly radical departure. If you think, for example, of the Isola di San Michele in Venice, the necropolis turns its back entirely on the Venetian lagoon; this is a rather more typical form of the Italian crypt.

Personally, I think the city was brave to do this, the architects have done it with means that are economical monetarily while still being appropriate. Most of all they have done it with a formal economy that tweaks tradition just enough to be interesting without being disrespectful.

Terry Glenn Phipps