Cemetery of San Cataldo – Modena

Description

The metropolitan cemetery of San Cataldo in Modena comprises:

1. Costa monumental cemetery: the central nucleus and original monumental cemetery. Built by the architect Cesare Costa in the years 1858/1876, it features several artifacts of artistic value that need restoration;
2. Aldo Rossi monumental cemetery: built to a project by the architect Aldo Rossi.

It is enclosed by a wall with openings that provide citizens and visitors with a limited image of the space. The melancholy theme of death does not separate it from other public buildings, however. Its order and location tackle the bureaucratic aspect of death. The unfinished complex includes large green spaces, punctuated by a network of pedestrian paths. The buildings stand parallel to each other, facing the central "vertebral" axis, which objectively (almost "physically") constrains the guiding lines of this portion.
These lines, sloping in a south-north direction, create a "rib" that can be seen within a triangle and which, once completed, will be a key element of the work. A central cubic element is intended for the ossuary; it stands in visual equilibrium with the conical tower of the communal grave, the image aided by the strong differences in colour.

Position on map