San Cataldo Cemetery by Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi, Architect of Milan, is known for his intellectual work, his drawings and works of architecture. His desire to create buildings that reflect their thoughts and social theorists, is seen in most of his works, if not at all. San Tasting Cemetery, one of his most representative works, is a clear example of this. The land on which to build the project, had been years ago, the home of an ancient graveyard by architect Cesare Costa. That cemetery was built in the mid-1800, leaving a wide range hand-carved statues and gravestones in stone.

The passage of time, traces of death, and the story that kept the place a century ago, are transformed into the analog path Rossi introduced into the design of the cemetery, “The House of the Dead.” Rossi believes in the representation of types, because in them is contained much of the architectural knowledge through history. (His ideas are best reflected in the book “Architecture of the City” 1966). From this idea and in combination with references to the Jewish cemeteries on the coast built in the nineteenth century, created the design for San Cataldo, in collaboration with Gianni Braghieri, won the competition in 1972.

By 1976, the proposal was reviewed prior to starting construction in 1978. The vivid orange building that is only part of the original intentions had already been built. For this year, Rossi suffers a car accident, and after being hospitalized for a long time, begins to theorize about the body structure. His thoughts were translated into their writing with the appointment “The question of the fragment in the architecture is very important as it may be that only the ruins, express a full fact. I’m thinking of a unit or a system, composed exclusively for reassembling fragments.”

When looking at the two cemeteries mentioned above, Rossi has taken the formal composition fragments found within each one of them, transforming or reducing specific elements to be represented in their own plan. To define the place, Rossi used a perimeter wall similar to that found in the cemetery of the coast. “The House of the Dead” is a large block with a series of perforations. Is devoid of windows and roof. Similar to the traces left by an old ruined building. After him, there is a sequence of parallelepipeds, which are increasing their height, in a triangular. As fragmented ribs, without a central column. The composition ends in a large cone, which contains the grave.

The cemetery of Aldo Rossi, no ceilings, floors, windows or doors, are simple openings may acquire different uses. Aesthetically, some people may find it more or less attractive, but important is that here, the Milanese architect manages to find a way to make metaphysical architecture, where the visitor is confronted with the idea of inevitable death.