The city has continually established itself as a center for cultural diversity and architectural prowess. The siting for this inter-faith mausoleum in an urban condition, moved to incorporate the great legacy of Chicago and the beliefs of some of its most notable civil servants such as Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan, who used architecture and urban planning as a medium to establish new ideals and expression in their respective times. In contrast to established conventions, such as burial in open green plots, a new theoretical model for interactive and engaging modes of burial was implemented.

The proposal provides spaces for the living to memorialize the dying while they are still alive; allowing both parties to have a deeper understanding of the transition through non-religious practices of cherishing, mourning and remembering the person’s life. The dying have the ultimate freedom to choose where they die, as the event will be their last experience.

The ossuary (which is by definition the final resting place) is where the person will eternally be remembered, by a set of handprints embedded in concrete. The handprints are taken as the dying enter the building, representing that the person has begun the transition. The ossuary can hold 10,000 sets of prints and will take about 200 years to fill. It is not a conditioned space, since it is intended to last forever and no one will need to take care of it in the future.

Labyrinths are often walked by people in an effort to lose themselves in a meditative and reflective state. They are found in many places, even some churches, and don’t pertain to a particular religion. The concept is one of a singular non-direct path that leads to the center of a circle. Moving forward from thinking of walkable remembrance spaces, the movement of how one could weave in and out of interior and exterior space was studied through paper models and sketches.

Mourning one’s death is expected when visiting a cemetery or a mausoleum; however it must also be a place to celebrate an individual’s life. This project in particular follows a “procession” in order to accommodate the user’s unique experience; a procession that efficiently navigates in and out of the building. The whole complex is horizontal and linear, to tie together one side of the cemetery with the other. The building is broken into several volumes that are arranged around a courtyard and connected by small walkways.