Composing Ground: Human Compost to support biodiversity
Would you be willing that when you die you be buried in a space arranged to support biodiversity?
This project begins with the research question How can new burial practices increase biodiversity through an entanglement of human and non-human bodies?
It is proposed to improve the biodiversity of our environment by questioning our last state of decomposition as human beings.
Even though human beings must move away from the ecosystem to improve it, this thesis shows the alternative of returning to being part of the cycle of life and becoming part of the final entanglement to support the biodiversity.
The main concepts for the project are the use of Human Compost, Sphagnum moss, and the mourning procession that complements the project.
The concept of Human Compost refers to the final process of decomposing the human body is to obtain organic soil.
Sphagnum moss is chosen to improve the quality of the soil which has human composting and its encounter with the existing organic soil. This moss grows in places saturated with water, which is why a bogland in Manchester is designed as a methodology to support biodiversity.
When using Human Compost ground as part of the project, it cannot be ignored that human death is linked to different feelings and emotions. For this reason, a route is designed in the bogland with different atmospheres that help humans to rest from the emotions caused by death.
The entanglement in the project is complex, an evolution is expected from the ground to the air, from insects to birds, from the roots of the mosses to the fruits of the trees, from the birth of humans to their death. At the end of the project, everything is connected to improve the environment.
Stop being human and start being part of the ecosystem.
