As Katrina Spade, the founder and executive director of Urban Death Project, watched her children grow rapidly, it sank in that she was aging just as quickly — and death was on the same fast track.
In thinking about mortality, Katrina discovered she wanted more options for her own departure. She didn't want her last gesture on earth to be a toxic one. She wanted to give nutrients back to the earth and cultivate new growth. As an urban dweller, Katrina wishes to benefit the city in which she lives and to provide an alternative option to cremation and the traditional cemetery burial.
The Urban Death Project is an architectural plan to memorialize the dead in the environment of the city. Through a delicate process, the body decomposes into a soil-like compost which is then used to nourish gardens and city parks.
Death can be beautiful. And respecting death can enhance one's life — not just in thought, but quite literally.
