Focusing on timeless quality and human condition
The mausoleum for former President of Chile, Patricio Aylwin is located in the historic part of the General Cemetery of Santiago, the oldest area of the cemetery. It is protected as a National Monument for its high historical and heritage value. Founded in 1821 by Bernardo O’Higgins, the General Cemetery, in its historic quarter, houses a great architectural and sculptural heritage.
President Aylwin was the first democratically-elected president after the military dictatorship, ruling between 1990 and 1994, and starting the period known as Transition to Democracy.
During his government, among other important achievements, the National Commission of Truth and Reconciliation, the Reparation and Reconciliation Corporation, and the National Office of Return were created. Aylwin is remembered universally as a figurehead of reconciliation who mended bridges between civilians and soldiers, allowing Chile to return peacefully to democracy.
The project for the mausoleum of President Aylwin was to be inserted in the historic area of the graveyard – it is a contemporary proposal that is respectful of its context, buried within the gardens. The intervention deliberately eschews historical references, instead focusing on the human condition and giving President Alywin’s tomb a timeless quality.
The burial place, carried out with the approval of the Council of National Monuments, is designed to be full of natural light, allowing family and friends to visit the mortal remains of the president in harmony and tranquility. The mausoleum seems to disappear amidst the gardens, and the descent into the tomb gives the visitor space for necessary privacy and introspection.
The project also tries to recognize characteristics of President Aylwin’s personality: his austerity, his convictions, his faith, and his loyalty. On the ground floor, the tomb is formed in the shape of a circle (representing the divine) alongside a square (representing the human). The building buries itself, yet natural light sneaks in, illuminating the forms created by the reinforced concrete. A cross-shaped aperture also invites light inside, as do five dormer windows, symbolically representing the five children of the family Aylwin Oyarzún.
The life of the president with his wife, Leonor, is represented by the triangle, which also symbolizes the Holy Trinity – since faith was ever-present in their lives. The light enters the interior in a controlled and tenuous way, transforming itself into the primary element of the place. The materiality is exposed reinforced concrete – a sober material, bare, without any type of coating. By creating a tomb which is semi-subterranean, the ground above remains a public square: this decision is characteristic of President Aylwin, who constantly sought to put public welfare above all.
Project: Mausoleum President Patricio Aylwin Azocar / Location: General Cemetery, Santiago, Chile / Architect: Gonzalo Mardones Architects / Structural calculation: Engineers Ruiz, Saavedra / Contractor: Jorge Carrasco / Client: Aylwin Oyarzun Family / Bldg. area: 25m² / Structure: Reinforced concrete / Completion: 2017 / Photograph: ©Pablo Casals Aguirre (courtesy of the architect)
