Architects: César Portela.
Location: Fisterra, Spain.
Year: 2000.
Photographs: via César Portela.
At Finisterre, topography and toponymy combine to identify a location destined to be a site of grief. The new civic cemetery for the town of Fisterra was built on a place exposed to storms in an effort to make death more accessible to people. The cemetery is a network of trails that continues down the cliff without restrictions, with the ocean’s unending presence serving as its backdrop. The ethereal barriers that replace the traditional perimeter wall are the physical remnants of ancient Celtic burial sites. The cemetery’s Platonic cube geometry accommodates niches in groups, resulting in a topography of terraces, low walls, and intimate squares that is favourable to reflection and rest. The construction of these modules stresses the simultaneous identification of the tomb with each of the two main forms, the habitation and the boulder.
