Funerary chapel, Azzano di Seravezza, Italy 1999-2001

Project: 1999
Construction: 2000-01
Client: Fondazione Mite Gianetti D’Angiolo o.n.l.u.s.
Sculptor: Giuliano Vangi
Structures: Marco and Ugo Davini
Volume: approx. 170 m³

The funerary chapel is set in the small cemetery of San Martino and backs up to the wall at the foot of Mount Altissimo, famous for its impressive marble quarries. Extremely austere in form, the chapel is set on a base from which the altar juts out along the front. On three sides, it is defined by walls that rise impressively from the ground to tilt towards the mountain. The roofing is a lightweight lens-shaped structure in stainless steel. It extends towards the valley to cover the altar and it is slightly detached from the bearing walls. The bearing structure is made of reinforced concrete clad with polished local Bardiglio Cappella marble, also used for the altar. Sculptor Giuliano Vangi used the marble cladding of the back wall as a medium for a bas-relief portraying Job in the desert, gently kissed by the light entering through two vertical slits in the side walls.