Riflessi - Nuovo Tempio SOCREM
Proposal for the New SOCREM Funeral Chapel in the Cimitero Monumentale, Pavia
New SOCREM Funeral Chapel is a solid parallelepiped that opens itself on the south side, and shows the entrance by changing geometry and materials.
The mirrored metal cladding dematerializes the building (5-meter high) and mixes it up with the surroundings by a game of continuous references between natural and artificial.
The choice of the cladding answers the will to reach mimesis and balance with the context without trying to mimic it.
The mirrored cladding make the Funeral Chapel lives between presence and absence, rendering into architecture the feelings of its users.
The architectural language changes in the south-east corner, near the intersection between the cemetery paths: metal wall stops and folds itself; south facade, more solid, bends to reveal the interior shape and both walls creates a wide entrance loggia. The sloping false ceiling is golden cladded and the entrance door too: gold is light, eternity and celestial glory.
After the entrance corridor, lower than the rest of the building, the space expands and Chapel's geometry becomes clear: one circular room with the cells arranged in parallel rows; the light enters from the big windows opened to the inner court.
Square and circle are two symbolic shapes: the square represents the temporal world whereas the circle represents the celestial one. So, the circle encloses the cinerary cells.
The corners of the square house the stairs, the lift and a stockroom.
The hall is 3,80-meter high and round skylights illuminate corridors between the cells' rows
The area between cells and the inner court is dedicated to stay and pray.
The basement has the same layout of the ground level.
Finishings colors are soft: horizontal surfaces are grey whereas vertical ones are white. The floor is in gray marble (Bardiglio Imperiale) and the false ceiling is painted RAL 9022.
Walls are white painted and the gravestones are in white marble.
A tight cove runs along the false ceiling to maximize the difference between vertical and horizontal surfaces; the skirting is recessed so walls seem to be suspended.