The Afterlife Home

I was debating whether to include this project to my portfolio. On one side, we don’t talk enough about death in our daily life and in architecture; in fact, it can be disturbing if this topic is not approached with sensitivity. On the other side, this project has opened my perspective to a completely different area of architecture.

As human, we are constantly looking out for comfort. Many architecture projects also focus to the idea of comfort and peace. Similarly, in death, family members also seek out for comfort when visiting their loved ones. They want to ensure their loved ones are now well-rested and happy. Which leads to the need of exploring different design options of an afterlife home.

Traditionally, Vietnamese gravestones were often designed above the height of 400mm, width of 800mm and length of 1800mm. The Afterlife Home breaks away from the traditional convention to create a more peaceful family cemetery site. The height of gravestones were lowered to 200mm, width of 600mm and length of 1200mm to reduce the heaviness connotation. Furthermore, flowers are incorporated to bring a sense of life to the area which family members also hope it could make every visit a bit easier.

Due to personal privacy, I will not include photograph of completed project outcome. Below are two design options: the option that family members agree to progress to construction and the second best one they picked but did not progress further.