Die Kunst der Mauer

In the Vorarlberg village of Fussach that lies directly where the Rhine enters Lake Constance and has a population of almost 4 000 a lively debate developed about where to locate the cemetery extension that was needed. The areas available were limited: to the east the Rhine forms a barrier and to the west the nature conservation area known as Rheinspitz borders the developed area of the village. In addition to these restrictions the threat to divide up burials between two different locations was also relevant in reaching a decision about a site. In the end the council opted to increase the density of the core area rather than to pursue the hope of more design freedom in the green surroundings. But the temptation to follow the latter course was great, as the famous examples of ambitiously and artistically designed cemetery complexes from the past century are generally outside the town – whether it be Carlo Scarpa’s complex for the Brion family in San Vito d’Altivole or Aldo Rossi’s cemetery of San Cataldo near Modena.

The last things are eternal. One believes. But even burial rituals are subject to changes over time. European history has produced a great variety of ways of dealing with the deceased, from the grave in the earth to cremation, and from establishing a spatial distance to the city to living beside the dead in a town or village centre. The reasons for these different customs are equally varied. Shortage of space and hygiene considerations play a role in placing cemeteries outside the city gates, whereas emotional and religious aspects are responsible for locating them around the village church at the town centre. The ancient Romans erected their funerary monuments along roads outside the city walls, the Christians around their centrally positioned religious buildings. In the urban reality of central Europe the location increasing loses significance, for in all cases, whether a church stands at the centre or not, cemeteries today form increasingly rare green islands within a mesh of development that is growing continuously denser. But it is part of the nature of this theme that questions of location are discussed at an emotional level.

Reinhard Drexel‘s solution to the problem is exceptionally intelligent while at the same time bringing gains in functional and urban planning terms at a number of different levels. The most striking aspect is, of course, the enclosure of the new area beside the old cemetery using a gently curved, subtly bush-hammered concrete wall. It creates that contemplative orientation on the space it contains which, while so important for the mood desired in a cemetery, is very rarely achieved – generally the enclosure is made by means of a banal fence or equally banal hedges. The new wall starts in Fussach as the first design element in public space by articulating and giving a badly needed form to the dreadful intermediate space between the scattered blocks of single-family houses, a development pattern that is typical of Vorarlberg. For the first time urban spaces start to form around the cemetery.

But this is not all: the wall is also protection against the elements, a bearer of memorials and a subtle, almost textile-like lining of the space inside the cemetery. The protection against the weather consists of a simple roof slab that hovers on a few columns above the wall and forms a protected zone on its inner side – a considerable structural achievement. By means of openings in the wall produced using a special formwork a kind of small stage is created for commemorating the dead. On the outer face these openings are filled with cathedral glass, inside marble frames with engraved inscriptions can be placed around the openings. The niches themselves offer room for vases and candles. The intimate textile-like effect of the concrete wall was produced by using additives and colouring and by treating the surface. (…)

The article in full length and more pictures can be found in architektur.aktuell.

Matthias Boeckl