T
he architecture of funerary buildings has become a new and important
building type especially in the Mediterranean countries. A number
of these new and dramatic buildings located in historical cemeteries
have emerged in the past years that show intriguing uses of stone such
as Thomas Ghisellini’s Secret Garden, Tavazzano con Villavesco, Lodi,
Italy (Natura, November-December, 2013) and Nicoletta Oddera’s proposal for an
extension of the cemetery in Gozzano, Novara, Italy, 2009. This project for a new
mortuary house by Matos Gameiro Arquitecto is located near the Mediterranean
geography in Portugal 6 km. north of Lisbon on the Tejo River.
The coordinator of the design team, architect Pedro Matos Gameiro describes
Alhandra this way: “In the most remarkable place between Lisboa and Vila
Franca de Xira, rises the promontory of Alhandra, hallowed by a church
and a cemetery. This place, a terrace over an increasingly larger Tejo river,
dominates the surroundings. In front of the church we can find an irregularly
shaped square.” Alhandra is a small town located within the boundaries
of Vila Franca de Xira. Like the temples of ancient times located at the
highest point of a city, Alhandra’s Parish Church of St. John the Baptist is
also situated at a promontory point of the city. Because of it’s position the
Church is an important visual reference point in the area’s urban fabric that
is more at a human scale. This local parish church is surrounded not by a
planned geometry but rather an organically developed cemetery zone now
surrounded by a residential urban fabric. The challenge for the architects
was to conceive of a design respectful of the spirituality of the place that
is very detached from the city center and yet in a dominant position in the
area. They needed to create a structure that would not destroy the church
Vaziyet Planı
ve Kesit
Site Plan and
Section
MART - NİSAN 2014 / MARCH - APRIL 2014 • NATURA 49