Cemeteries are the sacred spaces dedicated to memory, within whose boundaries architecture expresses its ancient role as a mediator between the realms of the human and the sacred through the grave: they are among the oldest architectural expressions, symbolizing and preserving the moral values foundational to every civilization, physical manifestation of the most primitive human emotions. Today these spaces, beyond their natural commemorative vocation, are capable of exhibiting potentials that allow them to be rediscovered through multiple functions: besides preserving the traditional role of strongly identitarian places and keepers of urban memory, they also possess the qualities suitable to become important tourist attractions, supported by their own artistic, historical and cultural value, as well as places intended for the well-being of citizens. Moving away from the idea of a sacred enclosure, detached from the urban context and enclosed within its walls, the cemetery space can profitably integrate into the urban landscape, enriching it through the dialogue between nature and artifice. This is the case of the Glasgow Necropolis, an example not widely known, one of the first British “sanitary” cemeteries that, in a slow return to its origins, after having served religious functions for about a century, saw the hill on which it is located, assuming its original role as an urban park, becoming once again an integral part of the daily city life. This contribution aims to investigate the project of The Necropolis, analysing its various execution phases and comparing this experience with that of other coeval cemeteries, and the historical context in which it is placed, that of the first half of the nineteenth century, characterized by the issuance of the Edict of Saint Cloud and the consequent creation of modern cemetery facilities throughout all Europe, reconstructing the development that has affected the site over the centuries. In pursuing these objectives, the analysis of iconographic, legal, literary and travel sources, even unusual ones, has been of particular importance, highlighting the critical issues that originated the need and the evolutionary dynamics of the relationship between it and the urban pattern, as well as a careful photographic survey on site. Attention will also be paid to the interactions between the inside and the outside, to the relationship with the city’s expansion, to the relationship between the natural elements and design needs, and in the end to the ability of connecting material and immaterial elements. These factors have determined both its landscape value and its identity as an expression of collective memory.

Back to its Origins: The Glasgow Necropolis’ Experience

会议论文
发表日期：

2026年

查看全文

Luca P. Marseglia

摘要

Cemeteries are the sacred spaces dedicated to memory, within whose boundaries architecture expresses its ancient role as a mediator between the realms of the human and the sacred through the grave: they are among the oldest architectural expressions, symbolizing and preserving the moral values foundational to every civilization, physical manifestation of the most primitive human emotions. Today these spaces, beyond their natural commemorative vocation, are capable of exhibiting potentials that allow them to be rediscovered through multiple functions: besides preserving the traditional role of strongly identitarian places and keepers of urban memory, they also possess the qualities suitable to become important tourist attractions, supported by their own artistic, historical and cultural value, as well as places intended for the well-being of citizens. Moving away from the idea of a sacred enclosure, detached from the urban context and enclosed within its walls, the cemetery space can profitably integrate into the urban landscape, enriching it through the dialogue between nature and artifice. This is the case of the Glasgow Necropolis, an example not widely known, one of the first British “sanitary” cemeteries that, in a slow return to its origins, after having served religious functions for about a century, saw the hill on which it is located, assuming its original role as an urban park, becoming once again an integral part of the daily city life. This contribution aims to investigate the project of The Necropolis, analysing its various execution phases and comparing this experience with that of other coeval cemeteries, and the historical context in which it is placed, that of the first half of the nineteenth century, characterized by the issuance of the Edict of Saint Cloud and the consequent creation of modern cemetery facilities throughout all Europe, reconstructing the development that has affected the site over the centuries. In pursuing these objectives, the analysis of iconographic, legal, literary and travel sources, even unusual ones, has been of particular importance, highlighting the critical issues that originated the need and the evolutionary dynamics of the relationship between it and the urban pattern, as well as a careful photographic survey on site. Attention will also be paid to the interactions between the inside and the outside, to the relationship with the city’s expansion, to the relationship between the natural elements and design needs, and in the end to the ability of connecting material and immaterial elements. These factors have determined both its landscape value and its identity as an expression of collective memory.