The design was produced by Heinrich Mutschlechner (born Brunico, 1957) and Gerhard Mahlknecht (Brunico, 1956), who founded in 2008 with Kurt Egger the EM2 studio based in Brunico. The client had requested an approach that fitted with the pre-existing structure, but which also showed a clear difference between new and old, and, in response to this, the architects chose to use sandblasted concrete.
When you enter the cemetery, you immediately see the Chapel of the Dead, almost suggesting that no one can avoid passing through it – in life, as in death. The design respects the significance of the place: the Chapel is modest in size, and restrained in its choice of materials, giving it a slightly archaic appearance.
Heavy, untreated materials were used – stone, concrete and steel – which age naturally over time. The architects included only natural colours in the building, adding black to these: "it is the colour of humility, the renunciation of vanity."
Lutago cemetery extension, Aurina Valley
Design: Heinrich Mutschlechner, Gerhard Mahlknecht, EM2 Architects
Building contractor: Künig
Cost: € 1,100,000
Timescale: 1997 (competition); 1998 – 2002 (design); 2002 – 2004 (construction)
