Explore Circle of Life 2.0

Premise

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Img 1: Eclipse - One world one view. - A concept.

The story of birth and demise began to weave when humans started reading the stars and celestial bodies. Socio-cultural phenomena and language paved the path for religion and beliefs. There were different interpretations and observations of the same sightings from all parts of the world, and mythological diaries were written.

As religions started shaping culture, the concept of life and death took different routes. Each religion had a new chronicle associated, that tapped our emotions. Both the ideologies became religious affairs that were treated with great precision. Cemetery infrastructures and spaces to perform these rituals were built, and held positions of great sanctity and significance in the society. Tombs, Pyramids, temples, all kinds of structures were constructed, and often formed the heart of a city or civilization.

As civilizations began to develop, and cultures started diluting, did all the public space re-equipped itself to the growing changes?

Faithless

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Img 2: - Faiths unified by a common element - fire. A concept

In the age of globalization where culture is getting homogenized, one can imagine a society where religions are not distinct any more. Where the society has moved ahead from rituals and developed new traditions.

In such an era, birth and death - constituting the circle of life would also be celebrated in unconventional ways and rituals would be re-written. With most of the urban population moving to cities and adapting to change, a coherently unique population is emerging. This population that has been accumulating in the urban realms, is now facing an impending shortage of land. The available land is no more affordable for the masses.

The idea of life, death, and the afterlife is currently associated with religion and faith, but what happens in the coming century when faith is not ubiquitous?

Mortality

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Img 3: Cemetery near Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, Japan

While death may not be a subject of taboo for today’s evolving world, its negligence in design has brought us to a difficult spot. Our life expectancy rates might have risen, but humans have limited time on this planet. Last rites as a practice are universally considered holy, however, multiplied over a large population, it might become an entirely unsustainable practice in the future, if not designed well.

In the coming decades, where our ageing population will complete their life cycle and we will face rising mortality rates - we still do not have enough infrastructure to support this purpose. The pace at which this unspoken need for the deceased is growing - will fall short for the demographic in consideration.

In times of accelerating urbanization and densification, cemetery faces the challenge of keeping up their relevance as a public urban space. This condition is not only an issue of space but also of cultural identity that can be projected within its environment.

Design a cemetery

In a world where there is an unprecedented growth in population and cultural identities are being reshaped, there is a dire need to find a universal space to address all communities accordingly. The infrastructure of the coming decades has to be prepared for a sustainable future. With land being a limited resource now, a strategic and sensitive approach to design a resting place is necessary.

In times where horizontal growth of cities comes at a larger cost, one needs to examine other dimensions of growth. They need to be adaptable and to mutate in the urban setting, to serve a large mortal society.

How will architecture house this uncharted need of the cities of tomorrow? How can we make a common ground for all faiths/agnostic populations to practice their last rites in sustainable ways within our future urban environments?

Objectives

Apart from the fundamental requirement of creating a cemetery/resting place for the deceased (not memorial), participants are free to propose functionality to support the primary function. Experimentation with built manifestation to regulate the mood of spaces is something that could be explored.

Inclusive: Create a cohesive cemetery environment to include all faiths
Balance: Balance the density and quality of space
Sustainable: Overall functionality of the Resting Place must be supported on a sustainable strategy
Scalable: Must be flexible enough to accommodate a growing mortal population

Shanghai

Shanghai has grown to become a global financial center and transport hub, with the world's busiest container port, it is one of the most populous cities in the world with a population of 26.3 million as of 2019. China is an officially atheist state, which has freedom of religion as a principle enshrined with the laws and constitution of the country. To be able to serve such a large crowd with basic amenities and public facilities the city municipality has placed most of its cemeteries outside the dense part of the city.

This is reasonable considering the lack of space in the core city, however, it makes these places highly inaccessible at large. Cemeteries may not be something which one wants to see every day in a city, although, it is one of the only places where a person can connect again to their departed relatives/acquaintances/friends/loved ones. This inaccessibility; invisibly disconnects the entire city to such an understatedly crucial function of a cemetery .

Site plan

Area: 19439.67 m2

Height limit: No Height limit

Site coordinates: 31°15'37.1"N 121°29'44.9"E

Ground Coverage : 50%

The challenge here hence extends to so many different factors and making cemeteries more accessible and people-friendly in today’s urban context.

The site chosen for the project lies within the Hongkou district of suburban Shanghai and is placed between a residential area and one of the busiest commercial streets of Shanghai on either side. The site is currently a parking lot. The design outcome will accommodate this public parking at the ground floor (or floors) and the function of the cemetery on top of it.

Circle of Life

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