FAMILY TOMB IN COIMBRA
Buildings associated with death, conceived or inspired by funerary rituals and practices, have given rise throughout history to some of architecture’s most significant achievements. The desire to preserve memory has always inspired the design of funerary spaces that explore territories of ambiguity: between earth and sky; light and matter; the telluric and the ethereal; the present and the timeless. In their materials, textures, scales, and forms, these buildings resist the passage of time and assert themselves as timeless constructions.
The project for the family tomb in the cemetery of S. Martinho do Bispo, in Coimbra, arises from this same desire to create a space of memory, exploring the ambiguous territory between life and death. Defined by the controlled relationship between volume, material, and light, the tomb was conceived as a space capable of providing an intimate and introspective experience. Based on the wishes expressed by the clients, the project sought from the outset to establish itself as a place of retreat, contemplation, and reflection. To these intentions were added other fundamental premises: the choice of Verde Viana marble as the predominant material, and the integration of two poems — Quando, by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, and Ithaca, by Constantine Cavafy — as constitutive elements of the spatial and emotional experience.
Located on a corner plot in a still sparsely occupied area of the cemetery, the building denotes a certain classical character, close to an archetype of funerary architecture, grounded in an axial composition and precise volumetry. The project’s main challenge lay in exploring the expressive potential of the chosen material, designing its tectonics according to a predefined metric and dimensioning system. The construction system was developed from the material’s own characteristics: individual pieces of marble are carved and joined through interlocking joints and notches, contributing simultaneously to structural stability and to the formal definition of the volume. The chromatic and textural variation of the green marble, which changes according to light and different atmospheric conditions — especially when it rains — is complemented by the golden tones of the alabaster and the metallic door. The circular openings that allow natural light to enter were positioned to reinforce the two structuring axes of the volume — longitudinal and vertical — while the rhythm of the exterior stone cuts is extended by the subtle interior ventilation perforations.
A tomb is, by nature, a place charged with symbolism and memory. The tomb at the cemetery of S. Martinho do Bispo sought, through composition, materiality, and light, to construct a restrained and sensitive spatial integration that intensifies the experience of permanence, introspection, and continuity.
