Verona high-rise cemetery
The high-rise cemetery Cielo Infinito (infinite sky) was a project of a cemetery to be built in a 35-story high-rise near the Italian city of Verona .
history
The Milanese architect Riccardo Manfrin planned this project for eight years. In September 2014, the required building plot of 72,523 square meters was acquired for 11 million euros with the designers around Manfrin and the Milanese entrepreneur Pier Giulio Lanza. Pier Giulio Lanza, as the responsible entrepreneur, expected construction to start in 2015 and a construction period until 2017/18.
In July 2016, the local council decided against the construction. As early as September 2015, the project was on the brink because the originally planned location was not considered suitable in retrospect and the municipality did not issue a building permit. The project, promoted by the Mayor of Verona Flavio Tosi , had met with violent protests from the population since its presentation in autumn 2014. It was officially stopped due to the uncertain legal situation regarding the private construction and operation of municipal cemeteries. The city promised itself substantial additional income through the construction.
location
The Cielo Infinito was originally supposed to be built in the San Michele district on the eastern outskirts of the Italian city of Verona. After this location was discarded in autumn 2015, it was believed that an alternative location had been found in the south of the city near the Verona Sud motorway exit.
investment
The modern building complex gave the impression of a luxury hotel rather than a tomb high-rise. The project consisted of a central rotunda to which six cemetery buildings, each with different building heights, were to be added. The circular building had a diameter of 28 meters and a total height of 140 meters. A church was planned above the 35th floor . This should have been covered by a hemispherical glass dome with a height of up to 14 meters. The six cemetery buildings each had a floor space of 55 meters long and 12 meters wide. They had 34, 30, 26, 22, 18 and 14 floors above the ground floor. Since the entire building complex was to be clad with a glass facade, a lot of sunlight should have flooded the rooms. Every building would have been provided with a green roof terrace. On the ground floor, sacred works of art were to be exhibited on an area of 8,000 square meters .
deals
The complex was to be built in its own park of almost 60,000 square meters. At the first planned location there was already a church for the last mass. For memorial services, prayer rooms should be made available throughout the high-rise. Receptionists, flower shops, and funeral parlors had been planned for the lobby. In total, space was to be created for over 26,500 graves in family tombs, chapels, burial niches, wall graves or niches for cinder urns.
Pro and con
Entrepreneur Lanza and architect Manfrin saw the main advantage of their cemetery in the space-saving high-rise shape. The population is growing steadily, the areas available for burials are probably decreasing. In addition, the bereaved could have stayed with their deceased in any weather. The Verona City Council initially welcomed the project. The mayor of Verona even saw an upgrade of the San Michele district in the modern cemetery and, moreover, this would have been the first high-rise in Verona. Church representatives were also positive about the idea of a high-rise cemetery.
But there were also numerous critical voices and protests from the population and the press. Even within its own city council, the project sponsored by Mayor Tosi was controversial.
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ Resting in Heaven Focus Issue No. 50, 2014
- ↑ Il Cimitero verticale non sorgerà a Fondo Frugose, la maggioranza cerca un'alternativa. In: veronasera.it. September 18, 2015, accessed June 4, 2018 (Italian).
- ^ Cimitero verticale Il progetto è morto e sepolto. In: larena.it. July 17, 2016, accessed June 4, 2018 (Italian).
- ↑ 140 meters including the top of the dome
- ^ Corriere del Veneto Verona, nasce il "cimitero verticale", accessed on February 20, 2015
- ↑ Panorama A Verona in arrivo il cimitero verticale, accessed on February 20, 2015
- ↑ antiTHeSi.info Cielo Infinito. Il cimitero-grattacielo e la supercazzola prematura, accessed February 20, 2015
- ↑ Verona, lotta senza precedenti sul "cimitero verticale": la Lista Tosi si spacca. Opposizione all'attacco. In: veronasera.it. September 11, 2014, accessed June 4, 2018 (Italian).