Project
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Soul Shelter
A digital interactive cemetery under urban green space.
I've always been very interested in interaction design. In the fifth semester of my undergraduate studies, I was fortunate enough to take some courses related to interaction design. I took this experience as a personal project to improve my skills and become a better designer.
Info
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Project Type
Personal Project
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
Apr 2022 - Jun. 2022
Personal Project
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
Apr 2022 - Jun. 2022
End Result
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Context
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Over the past few decades, the rapid urbanization process in China has led to a significant concentration of the population in massive cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong, making land an extremely scarce resource. This has resulted in not only residential spaces but even burial sites for the deceased being offered at astonishingly high prices. Simultaneously, the traditional burial culture in urban settings is being exposed to new ways of thinking. Nonetheless, there remains a need for people to show respect for the deceased and keep their memories alive.
This project is based on the contemporary Chinese context and aims to explore innovative solutions to meet burial needs in urban environments.
Research
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Ceremony
Funerary culture has always been a crucial part of Chinese tradition. In China, there are several memorial days each year when people visit graves to honor the deceased and clean the burial sites. Additionally, customs such as offering sacrifices, burning ghost money, and lighting fireworks are practiced to express affection and remembrance for the deceased and to seek blessings from spirits. However, superstitions among the younger generation in China are rapidly declining, and the government has imposed restrictions for environmental reasons. Traditional burial rituals are gradually disappearing, and no new rituals have yet emerged to establish a connection between the living and the deceased.
Cemetery
For a long time, earth burial was the predominant method of burial in China. Before the burial, the body is cleaned to preserve its integrity. Additionally, most people wish for their remains to be buried in the family grave in their hometown. Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has promoted cremation to reduce superstitions and protect farmland and forests. Cremation quickly gained wide acceptance and now accounts for about 90% of burials. Most cremated remains are buried in public communal graves instead of private land, mainly due to the government’s unified land management and rising land costs. With the rapid urbanization, more people are moving to cities to live and work, causing urban cemetery prices to rise as quickly as real estate prices. In Shanghai, for example, an ordinary grave can cost between 7,000 and 15,000 euros. To save space, graves are typically small and closely packed together. Despite this, many people cannot afford the cost of a grave. Although columbariums are not a traditional Chinese form, they have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their lower prices. Each niche can hold one or two urns. The increasingly crowded space has also become a challenge for commemorating the deceased during memorial holidays.
Remembrance day
In China, in addition to the birthday and death anniversary of the deceased, there are three important annual memorial days for the dead: the Spring Festival, the Qingming Festival in April, and the Ghost Festival in August. On these holidays, cemeteries are filled with people who come to visit the graves. Many people also undertake long journeys back to their hometowns to visit the graves of their ancestors.
Design Process
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Inspiration
Due to the limited availability of land, traditional flat cemeteries no longer meet the demand. The use of vertical space is therefore a good option in urban areas, where cemeteries can be established in buildings or underground to save space. In this way, a peaceful and pleasant environment can be created by planting the cemetery with greenery.
Through the use of new multimedia technologies, an immersive interactive space can be created in the cemetery where the souls of the deceased appear alive and can interact with the living, fostering a closer emotional connection. At the same time, unlike in traditional cemeteries, the souls are no longer bound to a fixed location but can move freely throughout the entire space, increasing the flexibility of space utilization.
Koncept
In the course of urbanisation, cemeteries have moved further out of the city centre. In Shanghai, for example, there are no longer any cemeteries in the central district. The greater distances also make the decision to visit a grave more solemn and formal each time. Is it possible to use vertical cemeteries to create cemeteries in the urban green spaces around residential areas? This would shorten the distance between the living and the deceased and also defuse the seriousness of grave-sweeping. Instead of a solemn ritual, it could become a meeting with the deceased during an after-dinner walk or simply an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of life in this peaceful setting.
Ideation
For the design of ghost figures, I imagine that they are simple, similar to microorganisms viewed under a microscope. They appear like life forms that return to their original form. I don't want to mimic the real appearance of the deceased, nor do I intend to use artificial intelligence technology to learn their language and expressions. After all, even the most realistic simulation cannot be the person themselves. Furthermore, we should not underestimate people's imagination. The environment and the spirits only serve as a medium, and further exchanges with the deceased should be preserved in people's imagination.
According to the Big Five Theory of Personality Psychology, each deceased person will be given the personality traits of the deceased. The personality index of the undead is determined through questionnaires administered during the life of the undead, as well as questionnaires and interviews with their family and friends. This information is then translated into behavioural characteristics of the deceased, such as speed of movement, willingness to interact and sociability.
Final design
