The towers on the edge | giuseppe vultaggio

The goal of this project proposal, for a Vertical Necropolis in the urban park of Chapultepec Forest in Mexico City is not to create a commemorative mausoleum but an urban space dedicated to the memory of the deceased: a mystic place where functional aspects and symbolic meanings are interwoven. The project consists of three stages: in the first stage, the entire space dedicated to the functional program is placed in the centre of the Island; in the second stage, the necropolis is conceptualized as a building holding a court yard, with this central part dedicated to religious ceremonies; in the third stage, the central space is enlarged at its apex, and the volume explodes in five fragments; the latter of which are distributed around the edge of the circular island in order to define a central space dedicated to religious ceremonies. From a morphological and functional point of view, each single tower can feel the effect of this evolutionary process: the facades oriented towards the square, where the coffin’s niches are placed, are characterized by an overlapping of marble blocks which symbolize the detachment of the central space. On the contrary, the sides of the building oriented towards the town where the kiosks, funeral chapels and small churches are located, are characterized by subtle horizontal cuts which allow light to pass through without altering the balanced look.