What is Biophilic design?
Biophilic Design is a term used in architecture to increase and encourage human connectivity to nature. As we are encouraged to live more sustainably, we must also consider the impact we have on the planet after death. Considering the constraints and practicalities of our urban environments, we look to make the most of all around us to provide achievable solutions to help us through the grieving process whilst protecting the environment for future generations.
BREATHE, GRIEVE & BLOOM: Re-designing the death space
Discussions of death are never easy, in particular here in the UK. Culturally it is not within our language; we don’t like to talk about it before it happens and when it does occur, we don’t quite know what to say. Euphemisms roll off the tongue, we talk of someone as ‘passed away’ or ‘gone to sleep’, neither of which speak the truth. Inherited traditions have served us well but are no longer fit for purpose socially and environmentally.
There is no denying it, death is one of the most emotionally transformative events we all go through. The tectonic plates of the world we once knew have shifted and life is now – permanently – a different place. But what if we had a more open dialogue with and about death within our day to day? Could it help us navigate our grief and grow while living with loss?
I am not suggesting that we live life focusing on our demise but one thing is for sure, it will happen to us all so let’s make this as honest, open, kind and honest to ourselves and each other as possible.
THE FUNERAL LANDSCAPE
As the living we feel the restorative power of being amongst nature. In our death we have a natural desire to return to it. Since 1890, the lack of space in our cemeteries has ruled out burial as our dominant mode of exit. As much as a Natural Burial might appeal to the environmentally-conscious, access from our cities and finite space do not make this a viable sustainable option at scale.
Cremation became commonplace in the UK in the 20th Century
The environmental impact of cremation needs no further explaining, a challenge the industry is having to address. However, until we have more sustainable options available, cremation will continue to lead.
Saying Goodbye is by no means a one-day event. As a funeral director, following a cremation, I have seen the emotional weight of the return of ashes on a family. It is enormously real: this is the first physical encounter of life in its new form. The question, ‘what to do with the ashes?’ is not easy or straightforward.
As much as Direct Cremation is a welcome newcomer to our funeral options it is not without concern. We do not yet know the psychological effects of not physically saying goodbye. Historically we have always marked our loved ones’ deaths with a ceremony large or small. As our society becomes increasingly secular society the funeral is beginning to take a back seat and is no longer seen as central to honouring a life, instead the space of grief is coming to the forefront in our society. Grief is described as love with no-where to go, but what happens if grief has nowhere to go? Grief is a complex and unpredictable journey.
THERE IS STRENGTH IN COMMUNITY THERE IS HEALING IN NATURE
As the shape and form of the funeral evolves we must address the sociological & ecological consequences of these choices. Our expanding towns and cities continue to accommodate the living; we cannot ignore our dead. We need space to breathe, space to grieve and we need to look after the planet. So how can we enable life and death to sit side by side in a positive and nurturing way?
The benefits and necessity of green space within our communities is recognised within urban developments. Planting a shrub or a tree memorial is a known ritual for anchoring our grief. What if we combined the two? With green space so limited, if we repurposed these precious commodities to permit the burial of ashes we would create beautiful memorial gardens within the architecture of our urban lives. If the dead are placed to rest within the community, we provide space for the living to anchor their grief, remember, honour, frequent and stay connected within daily life. This effective repurposing of the physical space supports the cultural shift toward a healthier life of living with loss.
Whilst pocket parks, green spaces and gardens nurture the living, it is our responsibility to respect and nurture them back. However, before we all go out and start burying ashes willy-nilly it is vital we understand the complexity of cremains within the ecosystem.
THE TRUTH ABOUT ASHES
It is not widely known that cremated remains, ‘ashes’, are toxic for the environment. The main misconception is that they are more like fossil than ash. However, the cremation process removes all organic matter and bacteria from the bone, resulting in matter that becomes stable and cannot naturally degrade, forming a solid non-nutritional mass.
If buried into regular soil, toxic levels of sodium and a high alkaline pH (11.8.) prevent the natural agricultural nutrients within the bone from becoming active in the environment. The result of this; anything planted has little to no chance of survival, and surrounding plant life does not thrive.
RETURN TO NATURE
In the quest for sustainable solutions to this dichotomy of death I could not be more delighted to introduce the revolutionary Return to Nature (RTN) soil. This nutrition-rich compound has been created to neutralise and compost cremated remains completely returning them to nature and as it does so it actively nourishes the land with stunning effect. We return to nature whilst encouraging trees, plants, flowers, lawns to flourish, quite literally transforming loss into life.
Repurposing green space with the aid of RTN, this is glorious biophilia in the fabric of our emotional, cultural and planetary health. Here’s to creating a society that honours life in death and death in life, protecting the environment for future generations.
[1] Cremation Society of Great Britain, latest report
NB: since this article was written, The Cremation Society of Great Britain reports of 2023 have been published. Now 80% of the UK opt for cremation.
See the full article as published here:
https://journalofbiophilicdesign.com/journal-of-biophilic-design-1
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