Design for Death - Beach Burial

Design for Death - Beach Burial
Beach burial, the 1944's poem by Kenneth Slessor vividly portrays the burial
customs in those days. In most European countries drowned persons that had been washed up on shore were buried instantly on the beach. This present project, Beach
burial, aims to transform the aforementioned unethical way of burial (due to ebb
and flood the mortal remains reappears) into a worthy and beautiful place for death and bereavement. The building, which consists of a funeral home, a cemetery and a place for contemplation, is submerged in the dunes, then slowly reappears on the
beach and finally emerges on the foaming water.

By placing the building in the public sphere, in this case a beach, we aim to
minimize the physical and psychological barriers between the living and places for the dead. The base of a natural formed dune is used to locate the entrance of the
building. The result of this intervention is that the beach on the other side of the dune remains mostly unspoiled. However, due to the descending nature of the beach the building gradually emerges.


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