Uniquely Funerary: Pierd’Houy Family Mausoleum

When I was photographing and researching my first cemetery book, Going Out in Style: The Architecture of Eternity, I kept coming across mausoleums that didn’t neatly fit into any definite architectural style. These eclectic mausoleums might have some Gothic spires, Classical Revival columns, and Egyptian symbolism. I started to call this odd and sometimes wonderfully whimsical architecture “Uniquely Funerary”. You just aren’t likely to find this style of architecture anywhere else but a cemetery, or perhaps a fanciful theme park. Indeed, Uniquely Funerary mausoleums and funerary structures are a triumph of form over function. They may be thought of as a delightful marriage of sculpture and architecture.

To be sure, not all conventional architecture fits into the customary architectural styles, but Uniquely Funerary architecture often goes off the scale. I remember thumbing through a guidebook when I encountered the Pierd’Houy family mausoleum in Cimetero Monumentale in Milan, Italy. The guidebook stated that the mausoleum was “utterly undefinable from a stylistic point of view.” It is one of my favorites. Although the mausoleum seems futuristic, bold, and adventurous, it was actually constructed over 100 years ago. Felicità Merina, the widow of nobleman, Leopoldo Pierd’Houy, gave sculptor Primo Giudici wide latitude in the design, and Giudici certainly used all of the allotted latitude. Whether the Pierd’Houy family mausoleum is bizarre or beautiful (or both) is a matter of opinion. But consider that some of the most loved buildings in the world, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or the Transamerican Pyramid in San Francisco, were reviled by many when they were built and are now part of those city’s landmarks.

There can be no doubt that Uniquely Funerary architecture makes a statement.

[Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page] Google+