The Use of Ontological Metaphor in Architectural Design for the Restructuring and Expansion of the General Cemetery of La Paz

Abstract

This article analyzes the design process for the restructuring and expansion of the General Cemetery of La Paz, founded in 1831 and representative of Bolivia’s cultural and patrimonial symbiosis. In response to rising mortality rates and the cemetery’s imminent sanitary and spatial collapse, the project proposes an intervention that integrates technical efficiency with architectural rhetoric. The proposal is structured around two main axes: first, an urban restructuring that conceives the cemetery as a city of the dead, optimizing burial density while recovering degraded public space; second, an underground expansion projected to 2040, compliant with public health regulations and heritage preservation guidelines established by the 1931 Athens Charter. The hypogeal complex adopts the form of a sundial, validated through heliodonometric simulation, in which the gnomon —comprising the chapel and offices— symbolizes the passage of time and human finitude.