Bellefontaine Cemetery, located in St. Louis, Missouri, is a 314 acre cemetery that is open to the public. Located here are the memorials of many notable individuals including: Adolphus Busch, William Clark, James McDonnell, John O’Fallon, and the Wainwright Tomb. In addition to these individuals, The Bellefontaine Cemetery is home to the Hotchkiss Chapel. Also among the sit,e there is a wide variety of plants and animals including: 4, 181 plants and 4, 173 trees making up 155 species of plants, the State Champion American Elm, and dozens of species of animals.
This cemetery, home to 87, 000 individuals, was opened in 1849 by William McPerson, a former mayor of St Louis. Once inside the cemetery, the only mausoleum without a family name above it is the Whitewright Tomb. In addition, above the Busch Tomb, the phrase, “Veni, vidi, vici” – or I came, I saw, I conquered, is engraved. In addition to the gorgeous views within the cemetery walls, the Hotchkiss Chapel was newly renovated, costing over a million dollars to add electricity, an interior columbarium, and making it ADA accessible.
In the grad studio this semester, we are designing a chapel, columbarium, and crematorium for the Bellefontaine Cemetery. With this project I have learned many thing about myself and my designs: to take in consideration every single culture when designing a building of this magnitude, the importance of concept research, and areas that seem like the worst, can actually be the best with only a few modifications.
Sources: http://www.bellefontainecemetery.org/history/narrative/
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