A matter of light.

Igualada Cemetery is another perfect example of hidden architecture, an architecture that is designed integrated within the landscape, not just as an added element to it. In this case is not a complete underground, closed space the one that forms the project, but a continuous path opened to the exterior which has been created a level below the horizon. The cemetery was designed as a tiered landscape that unfolds into the natural, existing scenery as one perpetual and fluid progression. The concept is here clearly explained:

 

-“At the end it is not an naturalized architecture, but, if allowed to play with the terms, an architectonized nature. This means, we are not witnessing a design which is ending in atmospheric or metaphoric invocations with the ambition of establishing a mimesis with the surroundings, but rather we are verifying a field of operational decisions in which the critical human presence has made the overall nature ‘architectonic’, even without touching it.”- 

 

The whole concept of not knowing where the nature ends to let the architecture start, or the other way round, is developed within a design line in which many strategic points are taken into account: local materials, native vegetation and, of course, natural light.

 

At some stages of this endless path that smoothly alters the landscape to create the memorial park, there are burial areas closed by gabion walls which obstruct the visitors’ vision from the surrounding context. They are secluded at these points where the sky is the only visible entity that can be seen through openings constructed at the top. These buried patios are the exclusive sections where skylights illuminate the space, creating a clear contrast with the opaque walls and ceilings that enclose the units. The light coming through theses hollows creates a blurred atmosphere for the visitor to experience which refers to the concept of Miralles for the final design of the project: “as much as Igualada Cemetery is a place for those to be laid to rest, it is a place for those to come and reflect in the solitude and serenity of the Catalonian landscape”.