Italian architecture studio Microscape has recently renovated Cemetery Castel San Gimignano, located in a medieval town in the heart of Tuscany and updated to represent the combination of memory and life.
First of all, the architects added dry stone walls in the form of gabions (the metal baskets filled with rocks normally used for erosion control) to mark the pathways and protect the existing terraced landscape; in addition, these metal cages also flank two new cemetery niches.
Facing each other, the stone niches create a place for reflection that has been furnished with a simple stone bench and exposed to the sun; sedum plants top the limestone and the metal baskets are enriched by flowering jasmine.
Microscape also restored the plaster of the existing chapel and cemetery walls, new cypress trees were planted and, finally, existing stepped pathways, formed of prefabricated concrete blocks, have been covered with gravel and plants.
The result is a changeable, suggestive place dedicated to memory.
