LIVING LEGACY Rethinking architecture for contemporary transition into death
Description
This project deals with the creation of a comprehensive funeral home focused on a relatively new approach to funeral disposition called “Natural Organic Reduction,” or, in simpler terms, human composting.
Using the inherent qualities of composting and the novelty of a new funeral disposition, this project will seek to question our society’s exisiting options for dealing with the deceased and explore how architecture, spacemaking and ritualization could be used to redefine the contemporary farewell process. The intention is that by using the biprodouct of NOR, which is soil, as a an active component throughout the process of creating this funeral home, the bereaved can more closely connect the passing of their loved ones with the natural cycles of nature. In an attempt to meet their spirutal needs through spatial experiene.
This process unfolds across four distinct visits, each designed to guide mourners through a journey of closure and commemoration. The first visit focuses on viewing and bidding farewell, followed by a celebration of life in the second. The third visit centers on a memorial experience intertwined with witnessing the cycles of nature, while the fourth visit involves the establishment of a living legacy.