While death may be an uncomfortable topic for some, I have found my research into funerary structures and rituals quite eye opening and fascinating. The differences between the funerary rituals of the "developed" western world and the less technologically advance countries and people is staggering. My first reaction is that we have totally lost touch with culture, rituals and traditions. Death in the USA has become a business. There's even a drive through funeral home/service. You don't even have to get out of your car to view someone who has past away.

    The rituals and funerary structures I have come upon in my research have shown me how death in other cultures is viewed. Many small groups of nomadic people view the body to be useless once someone has died and the soul has left. In China, some nomadic groups practice air burials where the flesh of the body is left for vultures and other animals to prey on. Once the bones are left they are ground up and fed to the animals they herd. This is how they return the body to the earth.

    The funerary structure my studio is studying, The Municipal Columbarium by Nelson Bayardo in Montevideo Uruguay, holds a purpose in the rituals and traditions that come with death. It is a public columbarium. A body is first laid to rest in an earthen grave, and allowed to decompose for approximately two and a half years. After the flesh has left the bones and returned to the earth, the bones are dug up and placed in boxes. The columbarium is a structure that holds these boxes. It serves as a final resting place for the remains of a loved one, and a place to come visit and remember them. I look forward to  studying how the space serves as a memorial, and how its holds on to the memories of the past.