Ever since humans have learnt to ask existential questions, we, as a species have had a whole lot of trouble trying to figure out what happens after death. Our generation added on to that and we came up with – what happens to our social media profiles after we die? But that’s a whole other story. The idea of funerals has also changed over time. While mostly throughout history, it was a time of mourning, now people have opened up to the idea of celebrating the departed person’s life.
But what about the environment? With rising populations, the death care industry (the one that runs the business of coffins and cremation/burial material) and the environment are converging towards a point of collision. Two people, decided to do something about it. Designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel are the brains behind the project Capsula Mundi, based out of Italy. This is how they describe it –
It’s the first Italian project created to promote the realization of green cemeteries in our country. Capsula Mundi is a container with an old perfect shape, just like an egg, made with modern material -starch plastic- in which the dead body is put in a fetal position. Capsula Mundi is planted like a seed in the soil, and a tree is planted on top of it. The tree is chosen when the person is alive, relatives and friends look after it when death occurs. A cemetery will no longer be full of tombstones and will become a sacred forest.
Here are some images from that project.
