It’s a rare kind of person who has the foresight (and cash) to hire an architect to design their own funeral mausoleum. But this engineer in Mucia, Spain, did just that—commissioning this incredible structure for when he shuffles off this mortal coil.
The black steel and concrete structure is nestled into a shady lane full of more traditional mausolea—it sticks out like a sore thumb, but in the best way possible. Instead of ornate decorations or stained glass, two young Spanish architects named Amparo and Andres Martinez Vidal designed an elegant structural equation.
At first glance, you’d think that the massive concrete box would carry most of the building’s weight. In fact, the small steel and glass entranceway supports the rest of the building’s weight.
“Therefore, concrete somehow gravitates whereas glass, traditionally a weightless material has a carrying function,” the architects told Steal Mag. It’s as though the burial chamber itself is floating.
It’s a pretty incredible way to commemorate yourself—and it raises an uncanny question: If you had the time and money, what would you want your mausoleum to look like? [Steal Mag; Dezeen; Martinez-Vidal]
