A Journey of the Dead: Rethinking Vertical Cemetery Architecture as Civic Space

Project by Alice Meyer, Amarilnto GKIOSA, and Victoria Peal

Shortlisted entry of Circle of Life

This proposal "A JOURNEY OF THE DEAD" challenges traditional burial design by reimagining a cemetery not as a hidden or segregated site but as an active part of the urban experience. Anchored in the principles of vertical cemetery architecture, the project integrates rituals, green public spaces, and communal infrastructure within a dense, flexible, and sustainable design framework.

Reimagining Cemeteries for the Urban Future

In most cities, cemeteries are isolated from daily life—spaces of silence, contemplation, and mourning, distanced from the energy of public interaction. This project redefines that boundary by embedding a cemetery into the very core of urban activity. Set within a high-density cityscape, the proposed vertical cemetery introduces a new spatial typology that allows life and death to co-exist within a public park setting.

Instead of occupying sprawling ground space, burial functions are lifted vertically, freeing up valuable land for communal activities. This elevated typology allows columbaria, cremation rooms, and ritual spaces to exist alongside urban gardens, libraries, chapels, and walkways. It transforms the cemetery from a place of finality into one of connection and continuity.

A Civic Typology Rooted in Ritual

The cemetery tower modules are designed in groups that frame a central park, with each tower consisting of up to 26 stories. These modules alternate between functional and reflective spaces—ritual terraces, communal sky gardens, and contemplative paths—allowing for flexible arrangements that cater to different cultural and spiritual rituals.

Each cluster forms a civic island: a space that serves not just mourners but also students, families, and pedestrians who encounter it as part of their daily lives. This strategy encourages the normalization of death as part of the urban condition, rather than something distant or avoided.

Sustainability, Modularity, and Adaptability

At the heart of this proposal is the integration of vertical cemetery architecture with sustainable design. Green terraces appear every five levels, functioning as sky parks, rainwater absorbers, and oxygen generators. The proposal allows for modular vertical expansion using prefabricated systems, enabling the cemetery to grow incrementally without disrupting its environment.

This design allows up to 138,600 burial units, with the capacity to expand to 300,000—making it scalable for the long term. Cremation areas and burial zones are supported by thoughtful circulation, ensuring that mourners can experience moments of privacy while still remaining connected to the civic life around them.

Ritual Meets Public Space

One of the project's most radical gestures is the elevated walkway called the "Journey of Death" that spirals through the complex. This path leads individuals across terraces, gardens, and ceremonial spaces, offering a spatial metaphor for mourning as a transition, not an end. It is a deliberate architectural expression of passage, designed to bring people into communion with death without severing them from the life around them.

From ground-level urban gardens to rooftop columbaria, the architecture supports multiple forms of engagement. Visitors may come to grieve, to reflect, to walk, or simply to participate in the ecosystem of public life.

Reclaiming Deathcare as an Urban Right

In proposing this new model, the project calls on city planners and architects to reconsider how urban deathcare architecture can serve broader civic functions. By treating the cemetery as essential public infrastructure, rather than residual space, the design empowers a more inclusive and open-minded engagement with end-of-life practices.

In a world of shrinking land, rising populations, and shifting cultural attitudes toward death, this vertical cemetery architecture proposes a timely and necessary response—one that makes space for the dead without denying the vitality of the living.