Brion Tomb

Carlo Scarpa detail sketches of arcosolium

The Brion family tomb is one of Carlo Scarpa’s stunning successes of work, located in in San Vito d’Altivole near Treviso, Italy. Carlo work on the tomb from 1968 – 1978 The Brion family bought this 2,000 square meters (21,528 square feet) plot of land in the corner of an old cemetery, for their family to be laid to rest. They had no plans for the land at the time when Mr. Brion died suddenly. This is when the family hired Carlo Scarpa to come up with a proposal for the tomb. Scarpa not only designed the tomb but the whole plot blending the old cemetery with the new. Carlo started with over a thousand sketches which included elevations, plans, perspective and he would even go as far as drawing mirror images in order to think of every angle and not miss an idea. He would also fill theses sketch with notes details and how the construction of the space would take place.  He is a perfectionist and would take the time to see the land at all times of day to consider the sunlight and the moon light to make this place magnificent. He also of course took into consideration that the land was “L” shaped and filled it with three important parts to the site: the reflecting pond with the water pavilion, the arcosolium and the chapel.  He created openness to the space by locating the buildings to perimeter of the land and leave an open grassy field in the center of the space. The lot was finished off in Italian tradition with Cyprus trees.

Asian symbol for union of man and woman

As you enter the land you will walk up stairs that will lead you to see the two intersecting circles, and with their openess allows you to view the grassy garden. Theses circles come from old Asian traditions of the union of man and woman, Scarpa used them to symbolize Mr. and Mrs. Brion’s love for one another. These circles were completed with red and blue mosaic tiles. Once you walk all the way up to these circles you have a choice you can either go right towards the water pavilion or left to the arcosolium.

reflecting pond

The reflecting pond is a place of meditation, which was pulled from japanese traditions. In the center there is a wooden structure where you can view of the tombs or take a look into the distance to see the village where Mr. Brion was born. A bench was added to the space to allow a visitor to sit down and reflect. Scarpa viewed “water as the source of life”, so this was a place to celebrate and remember not to be sad.

Ancient Islamic tombs gave Carlo inspiration

The Brion tombs

Located in the sunniest spot on the land stood the arcosolium, which means an arch recessed for a sarcophagus. Carlo took this idea and created bridge over the two tombs of Mr. and Mrs. Brion.   These tombs were constructed to tilt towards one another again to show a sign of their love for one another. The design of their tombs was inspired by the ancient Islamic tombs in Africa that Scarpa once saw, with their ziggurat type shape. You can see this stepped zigzag shape throughout the site on the edges of the buildings and in the chapel.

This site was formed by inspiration from Asia, ancient Islamic tombs and Italy, all these inspirations were brought together in just the right way to create a thoughtful y built piece of architecture and landscape.

View of tombs with arcosolium

here is a video that walks you through the entire brion Cemetery to Give you a better idea of how it all comes together.