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Along a circulating band around the mausoleum, placed resonating divots that correspond to the echoes of the mausoleum, subtracted by an ellipsoid for it encapsulate aural and visual senses of the visitor on different elevations.A semi basement pathway was placed beneath the surface, reenacting the sense of being buried, sounds of the past, and the coal mining history of the region.



The design elongates the mausoleum by bringing its resonating interior spaces into the outdoors and creates a recreational setting to the former funerary. The encircling pathway gives visitors a different perspective towards the mausoleum, from above as the living and from beneath as the deceased. Both spaces tether at the resonating divots that connect the spaces through distorted audio and visuals.

These divots connect both levels visually and audibly to symbolize the inseparability of the past and the present. The level above reflects distorted visual triggers through the reflective concave planes on the surface of the divots, received by the level beneath. The lower level transmit aural triggers through wind generated instruments along a pipe that penetrates through the upper level, signaling the presence of the sunken grounds to the surface.





Alexander Hamilton made the mausoleum possible and the departure of his remains made way for the living to use and appreciate the legacy of the town. In honor of the rich history of the buildings and the events that it has been through, the design is a way to resonate and to communicate messages from the past to the present. Waves of resonance from the mausoleum projected throughout the buildings to show the subtle presence of sounds that connect the spaces together. The hopes and dreams of rebirth of Hamilton reimagined by readapting the mausoleum as an interpretation center that can shift itself for future functions to come.

Whispers of the Past:

 Reimagining Hamilton Mausoleum as an Interpretation Centre


Architectural Design Project | 2020

Hamilton Mausoleum
Hamilton
Scotland
ML3 0DJ

Hamilton Mausoleum is one of the few remaining buildings of the historical Hamilton Palace Complex that survived through the ages. It’s presence as a former resting place of the Dukes of Hamilton reminded us of the vast courtyards of the Hamilton Palace that used to stretch all the way across the current department stores and spa centers, grandeur that belonged to the past of the town. It resonates the ducal way of living, and the way of dying, of the previous era, that withers with time. River Clyde flooded the building, drowning the crypt and the funerary chapel, forcing the duke to be buried in a more humbling fashion at the Bent Cemetery.

As for the mausoleum itself, all that’s left is the empty halls and its echoing spaces; reverberating every sound that is made inside its walls. Over and over again, whispering sounds of the past and the present to every visitor that came to its lonely, deteriorating walls. The chapel, the crypt, and the lodge were separated in space, but due to the whispering walls, they are tethered through resonance.

An interpretation center around the mausoleum would be suitable in this setting and would confirm the position of the mausoleum as a landmark of the town and increase the tourism of Hamilton. The ambiguity of the function of an interpretation center would not overshadow the mausoleum, the programme could also adapt to accommodate a variety of potential events to be held at the mausoleum grounds. The design aims to bring light towards the mausoleum and it’s potential as a place of interest in Hamilton, whilst being able to recite the region’s past autonomously through space.








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