Death and Life in the City
The Urban Cemetery
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Urban Cemetery
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Our current society is a life-affirming one, worshipping youth and health above all else. As life becomes more precious, our relationship with death becomes more conflicted. In the past, cemeteries were located in the center of town; they were not only the space for burials, but for recreation, festivals, and markets, and were important spaces for public activity. When the zoning for new cemeteries was pushed to outlying suburban areas, cities lost their connection to death and memory. This thesis sought to begin lessening the stigma of death by reintroducing spaces for burial into the modern city.
Architecture for the dead in America has been unresponsive to the cultural change and rapid modernization this country has gone through since its inception. Finding a suitable way to integrate a cemetery into the modern city would change the perception of both the cemetery and its relationship with the urban fabric in dynamic ways. If zoning for new cemeteries is causing city inhabitants to be buried many miles from their home, how can space for the dead be integrated back into modern urban life?
Architecture for the dead in America has been unresponsive to the cultural change and rapid modernization this country has gone through since its inception. Finding a suitable way to integrate a cemetery into the modern city would change the perception of both the cemetery and its relationship with the urban fabric in dynamic ways. If zoning for new cemeteries is causing city inhabitants to be buried many miles from their home, how can space for the dead be integrated back into modern urban life?
