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BAAS Year 4 - Spring 2025

DEATH IN THE METROPOLIS:
RETHINKING BURIAL AND CREMATION PRACTICES IN HONG KONG

Advisor:

Emma Letizia Jones

Student(s):

PANG Yan Cassandra

Studio introduction:

The studio addresses the urgent problem of the limited burial space in Hong Kong, through proposing new architectural solutions for (re)housing the deceased. Through site visits to existing burial sites in Hong Kong and consultation with experts in the field of new ecological burial and cremation practices, students formulate a proposal for addressing the question of how and where Hong Kongers celebrate the end of life. Issues of conservation and rethinking existing burial and cremation sites are considered alongside analysing proposals for new sites in Hong Kong. The histories of (multi)cultural burial and cremation practices including the legacy of colonial mentalities, the importance of ritual and grieving both alone and with community, the (un)welcome presence of ghosts, and the necessity of incorporating intergenerational and ancestral cycles of time beyond a single lifetime within a design proposal will all be taken into account. Above all, the studio uses architectural thinking as a tool to confront what funereal practices mean to us both collectively and individually.

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