Project Description

This thesis proposes a new architectural model for burial that better supports the complex needs of both living and dead.  Challenging America’s fearful death culture, this project prioritizes the cathartic ritual of returning our dead to earth. Using mud-brick construction to encase remains, this project narrates a story about the ephemeral nature of human life in association with the seasonally shifting landscape of Clear Creek Canyon, outside Golden, Colorado. The pathway-procession between four unique burial sites, allows visitors space to grieve, care for, honor, and live with the memories of their loved ones, mending fractured bonds between death and life.