Family Mausoleum

Model     Family  Mausoleum   with  Private  Library    Greenwich   USA  1984

A private, family mausoleum in memory of a deceased family member, a writer and poet
whose body ashes were brought to the USA . The request of the family is also that one
of being helped to conceive a place of rest for both their memories and emotions.

I have been asked by a member of a Lebanese family to conceive a further propose a
structure to be built on the green and well maintained grounds of their private estate in
Connecticut. The small building stands in isolation facing the silent waters of a pond.
The mausoleum contains a room that is thought to receive the remains of a man , their
most beloved and respected relative recently deceased outside the U.S.A.

To my surprise I was never told of the man’s identity . He only existed in the
descriptions made to me verbally concerning his personality and the profound
influence he had as the spiritual leader of the family. I only knew him to be a poet and a
writer.
These events and the way the subject was represented to me made me think of a circular
building. A strong sense of a place could in fact offer to the family members an
alternative to the abstract wondering of their feelings.

The proposed small structures wants to express care and intimacy. It aspires to be a
space where in the absence of a real body the family members can willingly reconnect
to their emotions and memories. The centrality of the plan leaves no doubt to the
celebration of the tectonics of the construction. An architecture that is land and sky.
Concrete curved walls, copper framed glazing, a suspended copper ceiling and a copper
roof, a one person entry bridge over a circular shallow volume of water that filters
natural and artificial light into a lower submerged room, the library with all books and
publications.
In such underground space at the base of the mausoleum I did in fact place all of his
writings in a form of an intimate family library.

Location
Greenwich Connecticut  USA
Competition
1984
Scope of Services
Chief Designer
Construction Cost
500,000
Gross Floor Area
700 SF