Black and white render of architecture building
INFORMATION

Published: 2023

/ Student Work

Soundtrack to a Death

Inspired by the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence burial ritual, these spaces invert the burial process by bringing death away from the ground and up to the skies. Examination of how decomposition affects the body through physical erasure was explored throughout the design process. Like bodies, spaces deteriorate, compress, and split apart when the soul has vacated the insides. The spaces here emphasize the separation between the “skin” and the “organs” and how a body opens up as it is exposed over time, like a skeleton once the muscle dissolves. The physical circulation within the membrane follows an upward sequence that pushes seekers of discomfort, whether singular or in groups, to feel anxious when tied with the existential journey through the increasingly dense greenery until they emerge into the aviary of the canopy. This raises the sense of being lost in the varying paths of life while processing the thoughts of death. Soundtrack to a Death honors not only the ritual behind decomposition but also the circle of life for the birds and how they give back to our environments.

STUDENT

Alexis Burgaud

FACULTY

Keith Mitnick