With sea levels eating away continents and the exponential growth of the human population, major metropolitan areas around the world are running out of land to host the dead; therefore, it is time to challenge the current design of graveyards and look to a more vertical solution in mid-rise and high-rise buildings integrated into the urban fabric of gridlocked areas.
The incubator’s goal is to explore and document the architectural typology of vertical towers with graveyards. Discovering whether or not vertical graveyards are a viable solution to the world’s ever-growing death population as well as designing a new version of the vertical graveyard option for high-density areas that incorporate more community engagement areas— some examples of those community areas are temporary childcare facilities, healthcare clinics, mourning rooms, religious worship areas, movie theaters used as “Digital Life” viewing rooms for deceased loved ones, park area, etc.
PHASE I
"Perkins&Will supports small, focused explorations proposed by staff members with micro-grants of money and time through the Innovation Incubator program. The Innovation Incubator promotes the exploration and development of ideas that improve [Perkins&Will's] work, open new areas of business and stretch our collective creativity. The results of these explorations further our design work, improve our design process and contribute to the knowledge base of our industry.
The program was launched in 2010....With more than 700 entries over 20 cycles, sustained interest in the Innovation Incubator at all levels of the firm is testament to its relevance in our ever-growing culture of innovation."
