Sandra Rotărescu is an inspiring future feminist architect whose work posesses attention to detail for funerary architecture design and the relationship the built environment has to the living users, but the departed ones as well. Sandra uses an experimental approach when creating her work, using different photographic methods (analog, digital) and combining these with other art mediums (collage, render).
Her current work, ‘Death Stranding’, explores the anatomical meaning of heritage, tradition and culture of Roșia Montană, Romania, closely interrelated to the problem of systematisation of death. The project is designed up on the small Cetate Mount in the valley of Munții Metaliferi and challenges the Romanian death industry through a concept of disruption of the death paradigm by challenging the traditional funerary practices and advocating for transparency, eco-friendly options and family involvement. The concept is designed in such a way to be preserving the heritage, revitalisation of the village currently dying, renewal of the unused site, promotion of tourism, supporting the community and its participation and forming a healthy relationship with our own mortality, as well as the place’s. The projects offers a route that shows the narrative of mining and past lives through subtilities. On this route, the main ‘attraction’ is the human composting facility that echoes and offers a tribute to every resident that has been mistreated and not only, while paying homage to the ancestors of Romania. Different add-ons are installed for a more environmentally-minded place (i.e. installations on the way to the facility, a new species of trees in the Garden of Rememberance, memorials), pivot points for reflection, a Garden of Rememberance for people’s decomposition compost to be used to create life in a slayed environment and the repurpose of the decaying places in the village that, in turn, create new jobs for the residents.
