PHM. Research Building and Morgue
Morgue e logistica
Winner of International Competition
The complex of the Morgue building in the Policlinico Hospital of Milan runs from Via Sforza to Via della Commenda, ending on the Piazza dell’Umanitaria.
It houses the logisctics departement and the Morgue. The building is the physical space representing the passage from life to death. The simplicity and linearity of the shapes, the frankness and solidity of the materials express the sobriety this moment needs to have and, at the same time, its austerity reflects the civil and urban component of this kind of insitution.
The Morgue plays the role of a laic church where even the farewell cerimonies are part of the social and civil life of the city. The compact stone-covered volume faces Piazza dell’Umanitaria, shaping its fourh elevation, and designing the background of its distinguishing majestic trees.
On the opposite side of the square, the building comes closer to the Cesarina-Riva pavillion, creating a long inner courtyard, a protected place for the ones who wait. The space is a small garden designed by a long water pool and groups of vegetation.
Water and the vegetation reflect themselves on the bronze and glazed facade, which itself mirrors doubling through the water.
