Better Than Death
Our project is titled "Better Than Death". We hope that humanity can re-examine the relationship between humans and nature through death and the funerary and burial practices derived from it, breaking the dichotomy between humans and nature. In our work, "Death" holds a deeper philosophical significance compared to its usual meaning. "Death" returns humans to nature and the ecosystem, reassigning humanity to the natural world.
Death allows humanity to rejoin nature. Therefore, in our entire design, we use two different approaches—philosophical and biological—to show how humans rejoin nature through "Death".
The philosophical aspect of "humans returning to nature after death" is showcased in the funeral space. We consider the different religious beliefs in Manchester and reflect the translation of religious languages like "rebirth" and "belonging" in the architecture. The biological aspect of "humans returning to nature after death" is embodied in the decomposed pod room, memorial wall, and greenhouse. Human flesh and bones are decomposed with the help of non-humans, re-entering the ecological cycle as nutrients, and giving back to nature and non-humans.
In our project, the "Death" is "Better Than Death", breaking the dichotomy between humans and nature.
