Mangrove Cemetery
Senior Project Design Studio / Yale / 2019
This project seeks to actualize the idea of death leading to new life through the creation of a mangrove cemetery. This cemetery begins first with a series of raised walkways that unfold over shallow waters in Miami’s Biscayne Bay.
Visitors process along these boardwalks carrying a planter urn containing a mangrove seedling, soil, and the ashes of their love one.
The urn is planted in the shallow water and then, over time, the mangrove trees grow, collect sand, begin to create islands, foster new life, and eventually overgrow the man-made path that once sustained them.
Using a very structured grid framework, I created a number of pathways along which funeral goers would process. Small pavilions allowed for a gathering space as the seedling and ashes were planted. As more and more seedlings are planted, the manmade framework will be overgrown by the natural mangroves and create a protective island ecosystem from the ashes of Miami’s loved ones.
