Public Intimacy

Cornell AAP 2018 M.arch Thesis Project
Instructor: George Hascup, Alejandro Beals, Loreto Lyon
Individual Work

Site: San Francisco, CA
Date: Fall 2018

Due to historical reasons, cemeteries in San Francisco, compared with other major cities in U.S., have played different urban roles. They have been rejected for almost a century, that is, there is no participation of cemeteries in recent San Francisco’s urban development. This thesis rethinks the relationship between life and death through the design of architecture of death in San Francisco. Therefore, this speculative project intends to reintegrate the architecture of death into the city’s progress, and build a new urban relationship of both intimacy and isolation. By creating a unique experience within the building, this project will be proposed as an engaging atmospheric attempt to imagine new forms of vertical architecture and more possibilities of public attitudes towards life and death.

The idea is to use the cemetery as a starting point to connect the surrounding green spaces and further more form a green network in the city. Also, the precipitation after passing through the bustling commercial area and the creation of the respect and continuity of culture makes more dialogue with this central activities zone. Combining the surrounding conditions mentioned above, the pier will become an anchor point connecting all the social, cultural and spiritual elements. At the same time, the cemetery building has a certain distance from the surrounding urban context. It has its own open space, away from the commercial area of ​​the city center, but in between the cemetery and the commercial zone is the medium of water and bridges connect each other, which creates a duality of both separation and connection, and the building is inside the city but also outside the city.

The building is designed based on three different circulations, the deceased and staffs, the family and friends, and visitors. The major crematorium is located underwater and is directly connected with the entrance of the deceased with a drop-off space for coffins. The underwater space consists a double-height condolence hall, a crematorium and a mortuary.
Both the family and friends, and the public visitors share the same main entrance located 30 ft higher than the deceased entrance level, which there is an entrance garden hall as a buffer zone in between two levels. After entering the hall, the public and the family friends are separated into two ways. Family and friends can use the staircases to get down to the crematorium space. Or they can also use the interior elevator to get up to the fluid and amazing atrium which is the major storage space of ashes. Sky lobbies are inserted in it to create meditation spaces for family members and friends. The atrium opens all the way to the top and creates a different atmosphere from usual cemetery but an unique experience full of peace and celebration of life.
While the public will use the circular core outside the building to get up to the most top of the building, where locates the cryonics sphere and a rooftop café. The cryonics sphere represents the future attitude towards death, which blurs the boundary between life and death and provides more open dialogue for the public. And the rooftop café emphasizes the publicity of the building, which it is not only a private space for memorials and sadness, but also it is a part of the city and a process of all humans life. It is a space for people to meditate and think about life in a relaxing way that enjoying the most beautiful view of the city and celebrating the value of life.