The House of Borrowed Depth
A burial-rights exchange in Ossuaire where families mortgage future construction rights to secure interment space. A wide horizontal rectangular upper hall spans left to right between two narrow massive limestone end pylons. The upper hall has a riveted iron skeleton clad in finely dressed pale limestone panels with very thin joints; expose the deep iron transfer girder along its lower edge and the shallow ochre tile vaults beneath. The long upper front is almost blank except for a continuous narrow recessed clerestory just below the parapet. A shallow flat stone-paved roof drains toward the rear through ceramic outlets. Below, preserve a tall central open front-to-back public passage with no central pier, and place narrow iron-grilled teller windows and compressed waiting bays along its flanks. A broad ceremonial stone stair rises along the left exterior side to an upper iron door; a narrower caged iron stair rises along the right exterior side to a separate door. Both stairs land on supported end pylons. The rear upper wall has three deep narrow administrative windows and a recessed loading door at ground level; rear ground openings align with the central passage. Outer pylon faces have precise survey cuts and small locked inspection panels. Give the lower waiting area rougher limewashed brick and rubbed stone sills; keep the elevated hall immaculate, heavy-looking and expensive. Architectural intimidation through a blank lifted mass and unequal access, with no skulls, gothic towers, ornamental chains or exposed timber.