A material proposal for monuments which will fade away as your body does.

 

In the Netherlands, where a grave is typically rented for 10-20 years and no longer an eternal resting place, I as a designer don’t see why monuments should be made of ever lasting materials. This project proposes an alternative which symbolizes the process of fading away and questions the desire to physically last forever. 

My material study focusses on Dutch river clay a material, which when low-fired, is a perfect porous, local and conscious alternative to traditional, expensive, everlasting materials. 

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I created open and even more porous structures with the material to allow frost and vegetation to help break the monument apart over time whilst the soil and bacterias take care of your body. 

This project proposes a modest monument to mark the last space and time you physically have on earth and when you’ve had your time, what is left can be easily cleared away. “Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust”.