The Sixth Pantheon of the Chacarita Cemetery, located in west Buenos Aires, was built during 1950-1958 and designed by one of the first female Argentine architects, Itala Fulvia Villa, a key figure in Argentina’s modernist architectural legacy and a member of the Grupo Austral.
For years the work was solely credited to Clorindo Testa, despite his more minor collaborative role in the project designing the concrete temple and the Torii-gate-style monuments scattered above ground.
The Pantheon is the first modernist work of its kind applied to the design of a cemetery on this scale, created to house 40,000 niches. A labyrinthine network of subterranean galleries and vaults is interconnected by a series of walkways, punctuated by open courtyards and patios characterised by hanging wall planters and vegetation. The result is an oasis of calm split over two levels below ground accessible by generous stairwells, all hidden from view from the landscaped garden above.
