c o n f r o n t i n g
Mortem Obire
d e a t h
:
a funerary chapel Mt. Vernon Square, Washington, DC
video presentation: http://youtu.be/h2oFC2Ce19U
Funeral Procession
Pilgrimage from Sorrow to Transcendence
The Dead
Journey to a Final Resting Place
Columbarium Visitor
Memorializing + Remembering the Dead
Architectural Poetics of Silence, Light + Healing
upwards view in axis mundi from mourning room
Mortem Obire—the Latin phrase for “meet death”— is a non-denominational funerary chapel that seeks to address the poetics of emotion, healing, serenity, and existential transcendence. The design uses the metaphor of axis-mundi as a central organizing node that forms a primordial center connecting heaven, earth, and the afterlife. It is experienced through the various processes of mourning, melancholy, healing, and transcendence. The ziggurat ramp envelopes the buildings and allows the patron to circumambulate around the central axismundi in a ritual ascent and sacred pilgrimage. This design feature is meant to mirror the moment in our lives when death claims someone we love. The intense emotions that come with such an experience are identified as sacred and are respectfully expressed through the architecture. The aim of the project seeks to create an oasis of silence and healing through materiality. Likewise, the architecture evokes contemplation and repose within the bustling, noisy urban context of Mt. Vernon Square in Washington, DC.