Rest in Ercolano proposes a suspended public cemetery above the ruins of ancient Herculaneum, a new typology that functions as a burial site, an urban park, and a monumental shelter for the archaeological remains. This concept transforms the act of remembrance into an architectural bridge between past and future, life and death, memory and landscape.

Rest in Ercolano is a conceptual proposal for a suspended cemetery located above the archaeological site of Herculaneum, a Roman city destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The project redefines the cemetery not as a marginal zone but as a central civic space, the space that integrates commemoration, public life, and landscape observation. A 250×100 meter platform floats above the ruins, supported by 13 carefully positioned columns to avoid interference with the archaeological remains.

The structure serves multiple purposes: it offers 2,100 columbarium niches, each designed as a light-emitting element that illuminates the space below, symbolizing life through death. The platform functions as a public park open to all and it acts as a protective canopy for the ancient site underneath at the same time.

The platform’s core structure is a system of four longitudinal hollow steel beams acting as bridges. These are connected by transverse trusses every 4.5 meters and topped with a tertiary beam system supporting the upper slab and green areas. Within the four main beams are all service and technical spaces required for cemetery operations.

A sculptural monument at the center commemorates the volcanic tragedy, while vertical connections at the ends (stairs and elevators) link the cemetery with the city and the ruins below. Clad in white marble and pierced by light shafts, the platform becomes both a sky garden and a luminous ceiling for the past merging grief, memory, and architecture into one civic gesture.

Location: Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, Italy

Type: Public Cemetery / Monument / Urban Park

Status: Conceptual student project

Platform Dimensions: 250 × 100 meters

Structure:
– 4 primary longitudinal hollow steel beams (bridge-like)
– 13 columns positioned to avoid archaeological interference
– Secondary steel trusses every 4.5 meters
– Tertiary steel beams supporting upper slab and lawn

Program:
– 2,100 urn niches with integrated lighting elements
– Public park and observatory
– Underground technical and service spaces
– Central memorial monument

Materiality:
– Structural steel system
– Marble cladding (lower and side surfaces)
– Green roof with accessible paths

Access: Open to public; connected to the city via arched entrance, stairs and elevators

Preservation Strategy:
– Zero ground-level footprint over ruins
– All columns placed in archaeologically non-sensitive zones