Studio 01 The Architecture of Death | Virginia Overell 211446

THE ARCHITECTURE OF DEATH III PROCESS JOURNAL Student: Virginia Overell Student ID: 211446 Subject: ABPL90142 Studio Leader: Isabel Lasala Hernandez

day one, immediate reflections

Barbara Hepworth, Turning Forms, 1950. forms and hollows, intertwining.

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Light through a perforated roof, Ahi Racecourse Flea Market, Tokyo, photograph Virginia Overell

Ian Hamilton Finlay, See Poussin, Hear Lorrain, 1975. Finlay’s object poems placed into nature play with ideas of permanence and flux and the tension and harmony found in these oppositions

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Historic research

Map of the Municipality of Richmond shows the original course of the Yarra

Como park in the 1934 flood, inlaid image shows the extent of the 1934 flood on the Yarra River which washed all planting on Herring island away.

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Aerial view of Como Island, ca. 1928 - 1930

Historic photographs of Como Island taken by Airspy 1933, name changed to Herring Island in 1952.

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Historic research

Arnold Bรถcklin, Island of the dead, 1880

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Charon welcoming a soul into his boat, c. 400-450 BC

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Historic research

The mounded burial plots in the Isle of the Dead, the cemetery island off Port Arthur prison, Tasmania.

Tasmania’s Isle of the Dead

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Islands of the dead in myth and in history.

Islands can act as an intermediary space between life and death Karta: Island of the Dead (otherwise known as Kangaroo Island) is thought to be an intermediary site. A creation being from the Dreamtime, Ngurunderi crossed to the island then on to the milky way – so is thought to be a stop on the track to the afterlife Elysion/Elysium is the island of the dead in Greek mythology. Charon is the ferryman the carries the souls of the dead across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living and the world of the dead.

Placing coins in the mouth or over the eyes of dead bodies was said to pay his fee.

Baralku/Bralgu is the island of the dead in Yolngu culture. It is said to lie to the east of Arnhem land.

Celtic mythologies – isle of the dead lay to the west.

The ritual of river cross and islands as a symbol of exile from the normative spaces of the land of the living persists in culture.

Islands as spaces for prisons (the penal colony of Australia for example), quarantine spaces, leper colonies, boys homes is found across cultures.

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Desk surveys prior to site visit SEASONAL CHANGES

AUG 2018

DEC 2019

Nearmap showing winter and summer vegetation conditions, Showing that canopy cover, shade and sun will be useful to observe on site.

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POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL PLANTING SPECIES TYPICAL OF BIOREGION EVC 55_61 PLAINS GRASSY WOODLAND & EVC 641 RIPARIAN

CURRENT PLANTING FOCUS ON INDIGENOUS PLANTS AND THEIR USES

Acacia dealbata - Silver Wattle Acacia implexa - Hickory Wattle Adiantum aethiopicum - Maidenhair Fern Allocasuarina verticullata - Drooping Sheoak Arthropodium strictum - Cholocate Lily Banksia marginata - Silver Banksia Billardiera scandens - Common Appleberry Bolboschoenus medianus - Sea Club Rush Bulbine bulbosa - Bulbine Lily Carpobrotus modestus - Inland Pigface Centipeda cunninghamii - Old Man Weed Convolvulus erubescens - Australian Bindweed Coprosma quadrifida - Prickly Currant-bush Dianella revoluta - Black Anther Flax Lily Disphyma crassifolium - Rounded Noon Flower Dodonaea viscosa - Sticky Hop Bush Einadia nutans - Nodding Saltbush Eleocharis acuta - Common Spike-rush Eucalyptus camaldulensis - River Red Gum Eucalyptus viminalis - Manna Gum Gynatrix pulchella - Hemp Bush Indigofera australis - Austral Indigo Leptospermum lanigerum - Woolly Teatre Linum marginale - Native Flax Lomandra longifolia - Spiny-headed Mat-rush Marsilea drummondii - Nardoo Melaleuca ericifolia - Swamp Paperbark Mentha australis - Native River Mint Microseris lanceolata - Yam Daisy/ Myrnong Nicotiana suaveolens - Australian Tobacco Phragmites australis - Common Reed Rubus parvifolius - Native Raspberry Sambucus gaudichaudiana - White Elderberry Solanum laciniatum - Kangaroo Apple Tetragonia tetragonioides - New Zealand Spinach Themeda triandra - Kangaroo Grass Trachymene anisocarpa - Wild Parsnip Wahlenbergia communis - Tufted Bluebell

Eleocharis acuta - Common Spike-sedge Eucalyptus camaldulensis - River Red Gum Mentha australis - River Mint Phragmites australis - Common Reed Rubus parvifolius - Native Raspberry Themeda triandra - Kangaroo Grass

Acacia melanoxylon - Blackwood Acacia paradoxa - Hedge Wattle Acacia pycnantha - Golden Wattle Acaena echinata - Sheep’s Burr Acaena novae-zelandiae - Bidgee-widgee Astroloma humifusum - Cranberry Heath Austrodanthonia racemosa var. racemosa - Stiped Wallaby-grass Austrodanthonia setacea - Bristly Wallaby-grass Austrostipa bigeniculata - Kneed Spear-grass Austrostipa mollis - Supple Spear-grass Bossiaea prostrata - Creeping Bossiaea Bursaria spinosa ssp. Spinosa - Sweet Bursaria Calystegia sepium - Large Bindweed Carex appressa - Tall Sedge Dichondra repens - Kidney-weed Elymus scarer var. scarber - Common Wheat-grass Gonocarpus tetragynus - Common Raspwort Hydrocotyle laxiflora - Stinking Pennywort Lachnagrostis filiformis var. filiformis - Common Blown-grass Microlaena stipoides var. stipoides - Weeping Grass Myriophyllum crispatum - Upright Water-milfoil Oxalis perennans - Grassland Wood-sorrel Pimelea humilis - Common Rice-flower Poa labillardierei - Common Tussock-grass Rumex brownii - Slender Dock Senecio quadridentatus - Cottony Fireweed Triglochin procerum s.l. - Water-ribbons Viminaria juncea - Golden Spray Wahlenbergia gracilis s.s. - Sprawling Bluebell

@daretoliveos

@fishing_victoria

@oldgeelong

@concept_audio_visual

Top: Venn diagram finding overlap between current planting vs EVC planting Bottom: Instagram desk survey to explore how people use the island

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

Water damaged flyer for Friends of Herring Island, custodians of the park and a specimen from an Acacia dealbata collected on site

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Leaves found on site Left to Right: Indigofera australis,

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

Northern edge conditions: stone retaining wall along cut side of island.

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Southern edge conditions: marsh conditions at low tide and reed beds present on three sides of the island Phragmites australis Common Reed.

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

The levee bank was constructed around the islands perimeter as a flood protection measure during the dredging of the river.

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Desire lines tracking over the levee bank suggest people want to access external views when on the island

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

A grove of Allocasuarina verticillata on site create dappled light and bed of needles

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A small snake amongst the weeds in the centre of the island,

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

mound

patch

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arch

etch

Repeated motifs, typologies observed on site.

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

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Transect walk notes and observations from site visit

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Site visit, 8 March 2020

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Notes and observations and initial concepts from site visit.

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Precedents

Void Temple Rozana Montiel | Estudio de Arquitectura

Sayama Lakeside Cemetery Community Hall Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Crematorium CoussĂŠe & Go & RCR A

land art topography gestural landscape ecology shared experience framing endless circular collective consciousness site specific

reflect stillness water time framing cyclical nature of life no end circular horizontal

expan non denom water sensi des embankmen nearby

Most relevant precedents: key words and phrases

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m Hofheide oris Architecten Arquitectes

Bushey Cemetery Waugh Thistleton Architects & J & L Gibbons

Laroque Des Alberes Cemetery EMF Landscape Architecture

nsive minational itive urban sign nts to conceal y roads

Flow process intuitive ephemeral temporal Decompose return to the earth back to the land

forest burial seasonal planting geometry contrasting with organic

All conscious of the landscape in which they sit, utilising planting and water to encourage an outward view, a reflection on the expansiveness of our environment while providing spaces for stillness and reflection. A step outside of the business of contemporary life to allow the time to grieve.

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Natural Burial

Diagrams outlining natural burial processes and benefits.

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Shrouded body in natural burial rituals.

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Burial mounds and cairns

Tumulus van Trou de Billemont, Belgium, Gallo-Roman burial mound, 150AD

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The Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland, Neolithic period.

Kitora Tumulus, Asuka, Japan: c. 7th - early 8th century.

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Pin up, 30 March 2020

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PLAN Temple

115m2

Cemetery

7700m2

Island temple (inaccessible)

1500m2

Walkways Boat landings Reeds

Initial site plan

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BURIAL MOU

Pin up, 30 March 2020

Cemetery 7700m2 Natural burials Capacity 1850 plots Single occupancy - buried at 3 feet deep option to lease for 30, 50 or 99 years

Initial exploration of burial ground: the mound.

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UND CEMETARY AND CENTRAL TEMPLE

Central Temple Approximately 115m2 various iterations

Initial exploration of temple form: tumuli, barrow, kofun dome forms

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Pin up, 30 March 2020

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ALTERED MOUND COLUMBARIUM ITERATIONS

Sliced mound columbarium Capacity: 624 niches

Initial exploration of columbarium forms: altered mounds

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Pin up, 30 March 2020

Cut slices through the embankment the encloses the island Raised walkway through reeds provides privacy and seclusion.

Ashes can be scattered from semi circular gathering point at the end of the walkway

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RAISED RIVER WALKWAY

Initial concept for reed walk

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Pin up, 30 March 2020

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ISLAND WITHIN AN ISLAND TEMPLE isolation, quarantine, seclusion A further cut to the man made island separates the northern tip and creates an inaccessible island within the island.

A grove of Casuarinas surrounds and obscures a bell The occasional bell sound creates a moment of collective consciousness, a unified shared experience

Initial concept for island within an island.

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30 March 2020 pin up This was our first pin up over zoom. So the possible implications or COVID-19 were at the forefront of my mind.

I was driven by the association of this with the history of islands as a quarantine space.

By repeating the gesture of cutting the land to create another man made island create a space that is inaccessible to humans in reference to our currently empty civic spaces.

The overwhelming feeling being on site was its interior focus. I had imagined being able to see the surrounding river but you rarely glimpse it when on the island. I wanted to retain the enclosure but create moments of release across the site.

The consistent noise from nearby roads was also a strong take away from the island.

It made me think about the power of sound to unify people across a large space.

Town bells communicated the time for as far as that sound reached. I want to incorporate some kind of sound to create moments of shared experience across the site.

Feedback The cut is analogous to the rupture that occurs at the moment of death..

Something you can see but not access. A violent move.

The temple occupies the fracture.

The burial mounds are also violent. The expose the body, it is not hidden. The scale and how visible it is from a distance is confronting.

Reflection I had become so transfixed on the shape of the mound I hadn’t considered how it would feel for the bereaved. Keeping some remnant of the human scale could be a good anchor going forward.

The idea of occupying the fracture is interesting to me. I am interested in the a potential space for grieving that stays in that present as a way to move through it.

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Pin up, 1 April 2020

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Plan and Axo exploring options for the cut.

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Pin up, 1 April 2020

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Plan and Axo exploring options for the cut.

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Pin up, 1 April 2020

Mitchel’s drawing of an indigenous cemetery at Milmeridien, found in Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu

Indigenous American effigy mounds, Iowa. The Marching Bear Group is composed of 10 bear-shaped mounds.

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Patches observed on site at Herring Island.

Diagram of ecological principle of the patch from Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land-Use Planning. Habitat patches were considered to be analogous with islands.

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1 April 2020 pin up I was exploring different iterations of the cut. The final iteration which included a descent down to confront the island as wall was my preferred outcome.

After feedback from the last session I had started to explore the more human scaled patch concept for natural burial as an alternative to the burial mound.

Feedback Consider the materiality of the retaining wall for the island within and island.

Rammed earth, concrete, stone.

Play more with distance - should the gap feel as if you could almost jump it.

Make it less organic and more purposeful, geometrically aggressive.

This shouldn’t be casual.

Reflection I need to think about the planting for the patches. Are the individual or shared?

I need to figure out how to create a feeling of closeness with the cut without it posing a risk - you don’t want people to attempt to jump the gap. This could be controlled by the choice of materiality on the opposing wall and also by the height differential between the two sides of the gap.

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1200

2400

Single and double grave patches.

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dissolve, atomise, absorb, dissipate, transmogrify lightness ephemerality remnant individual or shared experience multiplicity non-anthropocentric habitat non-denominational atmosphere community ritual tension, release, expansive and open vs contained and protected holistic interiority, seclusions, isolation, containment, quarantine rocks, water, mounds, sounds, enclosure, introspection, internal, inward, reflection

key words

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Precedents for the cut

Doris Salcedo, Shibboleth, 2007 in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall

Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting, 1974

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Jonas Dahlberg Studio/EPA/Landov, Memory Wound, proposal for Memorial to Norway’s Utøya Massacre.

I had not seen the Memory Wound precedent till our pin up on 1/4 but it is undeniably similar to my proposal for the north east corner of the site.

While Dahlberg’s proposed intervention also speaks to the violent rupture created by sudden death. But it is the Herring Islands history of creation by cut that makes me feel as if the gesture can exist in a different way in this case.

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Thoughts on the cut

Image of the basalt quarry that existed on the site prior to the alteration of the river course.

Photo taken on site visit showing profile of embankment near Western corner of the island. The disruption of the quarry and dredging is visible.

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Note on the human made side of the island.

The violence of original cut could possibly justify further disturbance.

Herring island is a fake island, the North side is not well consolidated and the river continues to alter the island. It is already a manufactured nature.

By repeating the gesture of the cut, creating a secondary island within an island, the islands’ island I want to create something that belongs to the land not the people. I don’t want it to be centred around a human experience.

The site’s previous life as a quarry could work as a precedent for the geometric cuts to create the temple that looks on to the cut.

Considering planting Callitris endlicheri – Black Cypress Pine Tolerant of very harsh conditions - so wouldn’t need a lot of access for maintenance. It is also a native reference to the position in antiquity of the cypress as a symbol of mourning. It remains a principle cemetery tree in the Muslim communities and throughout Europe.

Bell as a unifying aural experience – like the town clock – but not marking time - the sound unifies as far as it can travel. Delineates a distance of a shared moment It is a meditation space – doesn’t need to be large – enclosed feeling.

Symbol of crossing water to die – this water cannot be crossed.

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Life cycles

Diagram showing Red Gum saplings regenerating out of fallen branches creating Red Gum ‘islands.

Manna Gum lignotuber, their inbuilt system for regeneration

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Regeneration Red Gums and Manna Gums are already dominant on the site. I am interested in their connection to life cycles through their methods of regeneration .

Natural burial I wanted to offer natural burial at the site. From my initial analysis I found that a true natural burial requires the site to be exclusively natural burial. Traditional cemeteries have requirements that disallow burial in a shroud for example. Currently to have true natural burial in Victoria you need to travel to rural areas. I also believe is a more complete representation of the cycle of life. We are a temporary grouping of atoms and it makes sense to me that those atoms disperse back to the earth upon our deaths. We need to move away from the idea of preserving the body after death.

Benefits Embalmers and funeral directors have a heightened risk of developing cancer, ALS and other deaths related to working with the toxic chemicals involved in traditional body preparation.

No chemical leech into the earth or the water table.

Process Body is prepared using non toxic ingredients. and buried in a biodegradable container without a burial vault or grave liner.

Body buried at 3.5 feet (1.065m) below soil horizon. This is deep enough to be below the scent barrier for animals and it is a soil horizon rich in oxygen and microbes which are more efficient for decomposition.

It takes an average of 6 weeks for soft tissue to be gone and 2 years for complete decomposition, leaving only bones.

Aside from the obvious environmental issues involved with during bodies at a high heat, cremated remains are high in calcium phosphate and sodium. They are bad for soil and water. As a result I am thinking I will commit to natural burial exclusively on my site.

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1m from wall

2m from wall

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3m from

m wall

4m from wall

5m from wall

Testing for the cut: 3m high wall at 1m intervals

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1m from wall

2m from wall

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3m from wall

4m from wall

5m from wall

6m from wall

Testing for the cut: 6m high wall at 1m intervals

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Central Temple Iterations

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COVID-19 Our current experience dealing with the ramifications under a global pandemic brings the association between islands and quarantines sites into focus.

The word quarantine comes from the Italian quaranta giorni “space of forty days.�

Its etymology lies in the Venetian policy, first enforced in 1377, that ships arriving from plague ridden countries kept in port, unable to disembark for 40 days to assure there where no latent cases aboard. They believed the plague was contagious for 38 days.

I am interested in what the removal of people from civic space and if this will alter our relationship to public space going forward.

I have found the images of the mass burials on Hart Island to manage the overflow from morgues in New York really harrowing.

Although Australia hasn’t been hit as hard as America, more pandemics are inevitable as we continue to disturb natural systems.

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Opposite & above: Temporary burials of victims of COVID-19 on Hart Island, New York

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20 April 2020 Mid Semester review Feedback Look at the Landscape Strategy, City Cemetery, Hart Island, New York by Ann Sharrock, Melinda Hunt and Ian Fisher.

The scheme takes into account an integration of vegetation of the island and is reflective of the cycle of decomposition.

Temple seems like an afterthought. Think about the experience of moving through the building - and how this integrates with the outside. Think of it as a pavilion.

Create a sense of horizon. using landscape devices.

The recognition of the internalized condition of the island and introduction of release points creates an elegant scheme.

Don’t remove contours from the first plan (mapping movement) Experiment with planting having its own organisational power.

Will people become too attached to the patches if they plant them themselves. Are the graves going to be reused - thus disturbing the earth and planting.

Not sure the cut has been justified. It is a violent move.

In the original cut the island was an afterthought - a byproduct.

Maybe find a way to take this on as part of your agenda. How to use the ‘byproduct’ of this cut - build a higher high point..

What does the alignment of the cut relate to.

Rather than calling it the atemporal clock think about what the sound will mark. (if not time) Threshold condition of the island

Reflection I think I would prefer the burial ground to have a built in obsolescence rather than be set for reuse of burial plots. Although this will allow for a very small number of burials comparatively. I am interested in the current stagnation created by COVID as a way to think through making choices that work in opposition to the persistent value extraction principles that have been the dominant driver in so many aspects of our society.

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I understand the feedback on the violence of the cut. I had been reading about Gilles Clement’s Derborence Island and struggling with how this kind of symbolic/ gestural act can create this problemitised space where both the violent and the poetic coexist. I know I would only propose a move like this in a speculative design.

So I will work to interrogate my motivations in making this kind of design.

Possible alternative design responses Respond to history of flood - building a small structure/island rather than cutting it from the existing site - only accessible only at low tide..

Restricting access to the top of the island with a built form rather than a cut - a wall of water feature Creating a hill with an insurmountable gradient Also just read that the north east corner of the island where the cut is planned contains has a small area that has retained the natural soil profile and it currently supports a small remnant grassland association. - has now been fenced off as a conservation zone. So there is another conservation argument to restrict access to the area...

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Pin up, 30 April 2020

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Returning to the core ideas. Back to the land. Dissipating/ dissolving. atomising.

The ceremony as a space of transition. The temple as a porous space which the landscape flows through.

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Pin up, 30 April 2020

Louvers and mesh. Porosity: both open and closed. Framing the landscape.

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Temple models, opacity, obscuring/revealing/ filtering

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Pin up, 30 April 2020

Walls, hills, water as divider, angled split explored as alternatives to the violence of the cut.

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Ultimately these do not communicate the violence and rupture of death in the same way as the cut. So on reflection I will continue with my initial operation.

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Pin up, 7 May 2020

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Precedents and locally observed materialities exploring opacity.

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Pin up 7 May 2020

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Temple iterations

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Pin up, 7 May 2020

Iterations of a temple playing with density and layering.

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After Isabel’s feedback I will iterate a temple without a roof. Concentrating instead on the linear wall elements. I will also play with locating the temple so it aligns with the cut.

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Pin up, 11 May 2020

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Geometric cut speaking to the site’s history as a quarry.

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Pin up, 11 May 2020

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Geometric cut looking up to fiberglass temple.

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Pin up, 11 May 2020

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Geometric cut with long 1:14 ramp.

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Pin up, 11 May 2020

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Plan of organic iteration.

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Pin up, 11 May 2020

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Organic iteration working with exaggerated contour forms.

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Pin up, 11 May 2020

Perspective of organic iteration.

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Isabel’s feedback was to avoid cutting the entry ramp int the centre of the space, thereby removing the best sitting location. The plateau possibilities of the organic iteration offer more, but I should attempt to translate this into the purposeful language of the geometric cut.

Pin up, 14 May 2020

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Perspective on small, intimate iteration of the cut temple.

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Pin up, 14 May 2020

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This iteration is too small. Multiple groups could not experience it comfortably at the same time. Also it is fundamental that this space should be accessible to all.

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Site exploration

A notice board located on site.

A drawing tracing the patterns made by the broken glass and thumb tacks.

Could this reveal something on the site?

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Close ups of the textures and patterns from the notice board.

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Pin up, 22 May 2018

Sketches exploring plating among the sheer temple walls

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Considering a walled doorway to the cut

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Pin up, 22 May 2018

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Plateau exploration

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Pin up, 28 May 2018

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Quick models with kinetic sand to explore what is concealed/revealed with an angled entry

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Pin up, 28 May 2018

2 options

A drawing tracing the patterns made by the broken glass and thumb tacks.

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Exploring an angled approach to the cut, partially obscuring the plateaus and

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Pin up, 28 May 2018

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Preferred model with varying plateaus. Material swatches showing rammed earth.

The warmth appeals to me as the space could feel quite ominous and cold.

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Pin up, 28 May 2018

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Considering altering upper contours of embankments to be more geometric, modelled after tumuli.

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Iterative sketches

Sketches for recessed ‘haha’ in the cut temple. Highlighting the thresh-

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Plateau sketches

Sketch for interstitial area where the ramp to the cut temple begins.

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Precedent

Plaza de los Fueros, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country Spain.

By Eduardo Chillida and Luis PeĂąa Ganchegui, 1979.

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Mirrored toilet in the Institute for Nature Study, Meguro, Japan. This site has a similar feel to the island. A surprisingly immersive bush experience within the city limits.

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Final Desk Crit

View of haha viewing platform peeking out over edge of island.

Angled plan showing updated terraces. Haha now included seating.

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Updated accessible ramp for entry to island. Ramp is 1:30 to allow for more ease in carrying the bodies of the dead

Indication of placement of long burial patches. These are intended to encourage a less individually focussed burial system. They are 2.4m wide and varied lengths. People will be buried alongside one another under fast growing native grasses and wildflowers forming a unified burial patch.

Materiality

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Playing with layering and density through scanning site photos obscured with trace paper for use in final presentation.

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Model making

Site photos used to make acetate strips for model to show planting density. I wanted it to have the print quality/ texture of a newspaper print.

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Burial patch plant palette collages for acetate strips for model

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Model making

Process photos of my site model. Laser cut and then glued.

Due to my land manipulation I needed to print all the interpolated contours. Which meant I had to warp the scale vertically, so the undulating surface is exaggerated.

Using Acetate with site photos to show existing planting density on site.

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Final model

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Detail of final model.

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