PAGES OF LIFE AND DEATH
Memorial place for Hungarians who rested beyond our borders
Fiumei Road Cemetery, Budapest
Competition entry - 1st place
Construction Date: 2024
LOCATION
The location of the competition is plot 29/3 of the Fiumei Road Graveyard. Both its narrower and wider surroundings show that the graveyard is heterogeneous and organically developing. Grandiose mausoleums and more important tombs can be found at the intersections of the gridded, diagonally structured road network. The planning site is located near the center of the cemetery, between the Deák and Kossuth Mausoleums. The diversity of the cemetery can be clearly seen in the neighboring plots.
CONCEPT
Our plan consists of thirty-three apparently independent, randomly placed monuments in the area. These blocks formed in an irregular rhythm evoke the organic development of the cemetery, but at the same time, with their monolithic appearance, they create a clearly cohesive ensemble. The tablets have many interpretation possibilities, but in the given context, due to their position in the cemetery, they can be identified as abstract tombstones. However, this interpretation is only one layer of the ensemble we envision. If we imagine it taken out of its graveyard environment, the composition is more like a prehistoric megalithic monument.
In addition to the easily decodable layers of the design, one of the most important elements is the formula behind the apparent randomness. The blocks were placed according to a precise editing principle, the essence of which is that although the composition appears open from all directions, the monuments close around the origin, cutting off the center from the outside world.
On the stainless steel pages, we quote thoughts and excerpts of poems about life and death from poets and writers born outside and within our borders. Among the criteria for selecting longer and shorter quotes, it was important to represent creators born beyond the border, and we also tried to balance quotes with a more serious and lighter tone.
VISUALS
SITE PLAN, ELEVATION AND DETAILS
