Role: Academic research
Challenges: culturally and religiously-sensitive context
“If you’ve got the money, you can live in Venice.
If you’re a romantic, you can die in Venice.
But you cannot be buried in Venice.”
Venice is dying – physically, due to environmental changes and rising sea levels, and spiritually, through the loss of culture due to foreign expropriation. The latter has become so prominent that the 60,000 remaining locals held a mock funeral for the ‘Old Venice’ in 2009. The wishes of local Venetians, along with the negative environmental effects of traditional burial and land shortage demands a new, sustainable alternative that can be implemented on the island of Venice itself. With the realisation that ‘death in Venice’ is becoming increasingly sought out by locals but increasingly difficult to achieve, could a nature-based crematorium be the solution?
This eco-crematorium design intertwines the rituals of death, human grief and the natural world to enable Venetians to reclaim their beloved city through culture.
An early render of the site
Plan highlighting the main chapel
Culture-informed design and moments
concept idea
Mock funeral for venice in 2009
