Arquitetura funerária : o mausoléu como manifestação física de crenças espirituais

Abstract

As one of the oldest if not the oldest type of sacred architecture, funerary architecture is the one that most purely and genuinly materializes in the physical world the existential issues of Man and the way in which he relates to his surroundings. Although this foundation of monumental architecture, and architecture in its most universal dimension, reflects the relationship of mankind with death, ultimately, its materialization is inspired by themes and motives intrinsic to life itself. Essentially at the origin of multimilenar beliefs and customs, these existential questions constitute the spiritual imaginary that generates the principles of composition of funerary architecture, and hence the chosen object of study, the mausoleum. Thus, the present dissertation shows how this imaginary remained intact, having only been transported and reinterpreted in the course of a History characterized by a remarkable formal evolution of the object of study. As an extension of this evolution, the case studies reflect the continuity in time of an imaginary still quite present in the collective consciousness.