basekamp space > Events
The American Funeral Home
Description
The
Institute for Advanced Architecture is pleased to present a glimpse into one
of its latest projects, The American Funeral Home. With this project, the
Institute has undertaken a survey of the nation's memorial spaces, and in
partnership with BASEKAMP of Philadelphia, is now making this presentation
accessible to the public.
The exhibition presents a number of materials-- documentary photographs, interpretive
drawings, a textual guide and specially fabricated funerary accessories.
These are the result of careful collaboration by scholars, engineers, and artists from various fields, coming together to produce works for the purpose of helping the nation practice for death, an activity vital to its self-esteem.
In addition to selections from a photographic survey of American funerary
facilities, there are here presented studied extrapolations of important national
trends which will serve as both interventions and seeds of ritual formation.
These include Abolesco, which brings together industry and the sacred for
the design of a contemporary mass-produceable coffin/ distribution system
that is adaptable to today's lifestyles. The Simetery is a computer
application we have developed, using the latest cross platform technology,
to help interactively design spaces of remembrance.
Inspired by funeral-home innovations, the entire exhibition is carefully lit
using what we call the Natural Light system, which employs smart technology
which we hope can be a foretaste of life and death alternatives to come.