Enlivening Spaces for the Dead: The Relevance of Cemeteries in the 21st Century

Current cemetery practices can be harmful to public health and local ecologies and be intensive users of resources such as water and energy. However, given their spiritual benefits to mourners and community members, I believe that cemeteries are still justified in their construction for societies that wish to have a relationship with their dead. With a growing and aging population, more spaces will be used to house the dead; I examined how these could spaces benefit the living as well. Cemeteries can be designed within natural systems, both in landscaping and in burial, as well as spaces for communities and explorations of new forms of art and architecture. Using research and my own experiences, I identified and analyzed exemplary cemeteries that benefit their contexts ecologically, socially, and artistically and architecturally. Ultimately, this paper exists as a guide for the development or retrofitting of cemeteries into active, lively spaces