Soul Terminal]

"The day you die is the day you come home. The day you cross the threshold is the day of judgment."

[LIFE AFTER LIFE]

Project Duration ： 2022.11-2022.12

Subject ： Virtual Architectural Design

Type of work ： Individual completion Finished by ：Wang Xinyi

"What is the world like after a person dies? Is there really a soul? Where do people's souls go after they die?" ...... People are curious about the world after death and, as the film says, the greatest fear of life is often linked to the unknown and accompanied by the more tempered fear of being forgotten.

And there are now more and more practical examples of the seemingly impossible phenomenon of the <near-death experience>, in which people experience the feeling of being out of body, living as a soul, as if there were an alternative dimension separate from the real world. This space is seemed to be connected to the real world and allows one to see what his body is experiencing, as well as allowing one to look back on one's own life and see deceased people one has not seen for a long time. Until they wake up or actually die.

The design is based on this idea, by designing soul collection stations in different corners of the world and sending them to one soul terminal after another. Here they stay for as long or as short a time as they like, they can live, move around and socialise ...... But at a certain point, they have to ascend to the topmost platform to decide whether to return to their reality. Virtual technology generates virtual images

<A Farewell to Arms>

“I felt my soul come out of my body, as if were taking a corner of a silk handkerchief and pulling it out of my pocket. The silk handkerchief fluttered around and finally returned to its old place and went into the pocket.”

“Patients described leaving their bodies;being able to see from a vantage point above and then traveling down a tunnel or a canyon joined by loving guides. It is where they re-lived events from the point of view of others, feeling the pain and joy they brought.“

Raymond Moody

（The Father of NearDeath Experience）

Projection interface for face-to-face human interaction

Freedom to change the environment in which the room is located The picture loses colour and the characters lose their ability to move when it fails

“I discovered common and universal themes in near-death experiences that go beyond neurophysiological or cultural interpretations, as well as patterns of consistent aftereffects on individuals’ attitudes, beliefs, values, and personalities.”

“These near-death experiences have been reorganised and categorised into five main stages of the near-death process. Looking closely at each step, we seem to see an increasingly thorough picture of the dying process.”

Kenneth Ring

A person is struck while rafting in a river and suffers a brief coma. During the time she was unconscious, she felt like she had gone to a different world.

In the blink of an eye she was on a mountain path again, which seemed to be the only one around.

According to her companion, her brain did not respond to the outside world for quite some time, and everyone thought she would not alive.

Through several real life stories of near death experiences, the common spatial elements that occur are summarised and based on these elements design prototypes are refined to meet the needs of the space.

The main assembly space, located on high ground, is almost the last space for the entire neardeath experience.

Each man has his own individual space where he can look back on his life as if he were watching a film.

"I was swept into the water by the rushing river and lost consciousness throughout. At one point seemed to see my soul flying out of my body and saw my teammates looking for me, but my body floated uncontrollably towards a mountain path. Walking through the path came to a space with a circular dome, like a huge assembly place."

"II saw a lot of family and friends who have passed away, and I saw a lot of moments from my childhood, youth and later in life that I miss, as if had watched a movie about my life. But the people saw told me it wasn't my last time, so was pushed back by a huge push. I thought the whole thing was long, but it was actually only about a minute or two.

A circular corridor with different exits, each with the option to leave at a different node.

A long tunnel passage is the space through which everyone necessarily passes to connect real life and neardeath experiences.

Each person finds their memories of different stages of their lives in the labyrinthine space and sees how they have changed.

In near-death experiences, light is a sign that guides people onward and go back to the real living world.

These corridors make you feel as if you are retracing your life, only in flashback, eventually returning to infancy

"I entered the so-called near-death state after injuring my head. After about ten seconds of falling at high speed, stopped at the end of a small, narrow bridge with a dark tunnel at the other end, a strange scene, but had no choice but to move on. At the end of the walk was an ocean and my father was standing in it, that's where he was last wrecked."

"It was as if I went into a cycle where I saw the whole process of my pregnancy and even after the baby was born, and I seemed to live for a long time in this state where also had my own family and friends. I spent what I thought was a wonderful life there, but when I woke up found I was still in hospital, having just lost my unborn child in a car accident."

A pregnant mother sees her own pregnancy in its entirety in a near-death experience

All her experiences are centred on a single fountain feel like I've been transported

Memorable moments in many people's lives are deliberately displayed and people can experience the joy of the moment.

Recurring walls that make one feel lost in a neardeath experience that seems to go nowhere.

A small sunken theatre where different souls from the same area gather and interact.

Vertical traffic transports those souls who stay for a long time to the small house where they will live next.

The winding staircase meets the need for the souls of the different rooms to visit each other without being too intrusive.

As the spiral staircase slowly ascends, it is time for the different souls to choose their final destination.

Souls in a dying state are given varying lengths of stay in the Soul World, where they complete the registration of their identity, review their past lives, have their own room and a platform for activities that simulate the real world, and can return to the real world under a sacred dome if they feel the call of family and friends or decide to fulfil their unfulfilled wishes.

Virtual console in science fiction films

Undulating natural surroundings

Concentrated housing in human space

Very fast sliding devices Dormers and vaults bring a sense of architectural sanctity

Dome

The final resting place for the soul, where the wounded soul chooses to stay or go back.

Personal soul uploads to reach the soul world

Simulation of real-world natural environments and large scale living spaces

Morphogenesis of the plane of activity

Flat terrain, mild climate and diverse vegetation

Shuttled circular tube traffic meets communication needs and increases the efficiency of soul world transmission

An expression of the sublime nature of life and soul

Living

Interlocking pipes bring souls conveniently from the traffic tube to their respective living unit.

Low and flat terrain, mild climate, rainy and foggy

Undulating terrain, rich vegetation, humid, varied flora and fauna

Rotating staircase

Inverted dome

Living

Providing comfortable living environment according to the original location of the soul.

Higher terrain, arid, less vegetation, thinner air

Functional structure diagram

Residential units system

The housing units are divided into three large modules, each of which is divided into 12 smaller modules with different environments.

Transport pipeline systems

The combination of a traffic tube and a well-connected conveyor pipe allows the soul to reach everywhere easily.

Vertical traffic tube

Dwelling units & support structures

Living

The different living units allow a large number of souls to stay in a comfortable environment.

Gathering

The equivalent of a reception hall, where souls complete their registration and can review their lives in the screening room.

Activity platform system

Simulates the original living environment of the souls in different areas, giving them a sense of familiarity and belonging.

Other activity spaces

Spirits enter at the bottom of the building and leave at the top; the bottom is the gathering space and the top floor is the sacred soaring space.

Internal space for pipes

Bottom activity unit

Bottom vault structure

At the reception in the event hall met family and friends I hadn't seen for a long time, they asked me about my life and other family members, we talked for a long time just like before and we planned to talk more when we got to our place.

Life here was peaceful, I experienced the same environment as before and found the same joy that I had before, something that I could not possibly experience again in the real world.

But I can feel the thoughts and calls of my loved ones and friends, and don't think I should upset them too much in that world, though I may have fallen into this too-goodto-be-true environment.

I ended up going under the dome at the top, walking up that staircase and standing on that platform so I could decide to go back to that original world. Perhaps the next time I come here again, might make the choice to leave.