Hotel for Mourning

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Architectural Association School - Inter 11 - Year 2

Pt 1 - Death & Architecture

Death is intimately connected with architecture; hence we have had pyramids, cemeteries and columbaria throughout history.

In a world where cremation is becoming an increasingly popular practice, what is the appropriate 21st century architectural response?

Cremation

We tend to think that we have disposed of it by incinerating the body, but cremation itself does not represent any symbolic way of getting rid of the ashes. People are left with the ashes of the beloved but not anything symbolic to do with them. This is the arena in which my project has a role.

Current methods of disposal:

Proposal

I am proposing an ash-spreading hotel for the island of Lanzarote that uses mist-capturing nets and virtual reality, to create a ritual for grieving, letting go, and reconnecting to nature.

The physical hotel is an environmentally sensitive insertion situated at the Famara cliff, and houses a private space for contemplation, a social space for gathering and celebration, and a path for spreading ashes.

The ritual terminates with an immersive experience in Virtual Reality, whereby visitors become the particle of ash, and experience its journey back into nature. They travel with the ash to three locations characteristic of Lanzarote: into the cliff, the ocean and the volcanic ash.