The phenomenon of death and its architectural and artistic reflection

Veronika Kapišinská

SUMMARY

The funeral and commemorative architecture is a fascinating cultural
phenomenon. These emotively powerful structures have the special power
to touch us and stimulate metaphysical refl ections, human imagination
and emotional perception as well. They try to provide immortality, the
eternal remembrance and the fame to the deceased buried in their space.
These facts make of them a unique architectural challenge which involves
combination of symbolism, beliefs, cults and cultures, religious ideas and
existential meanings. These last marks of human existence in this world
are therefore a very sensitive and personal architectural and artistic mission.
The research of their specifi cal spatial, temporal and topographical
qualities often takes places in limit positions. Consequently the defi nitions
and the qualities in the fi eld of sepulchral architecture are unusual and
very original according to the uniqueness of their perception.

Keywords: architecture, culture, death, art, reflection