VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

Viewed through a historical lens, the significance of architectures of death (and their relationship to the urban environment) can be seen to have changed greatly over time. Initially much more incorporated into everyday life, cemeteries were gradually pushed to the outskirts of cities due to factors such as the increase in the number of deaths and fear of disease – only to result in a complete erasure of death from our immediate surroundings. Often overlooked or disguised as parks, however, many of the same burial grounds sit within urban landscapes today and provoke questions about their relevance. The authors discuss a selection of burial sites and cemeteries in New York City and Istanbul, ranging from popular tourist destinations to quieter, neglected ones. Perhaps due to a sense of discomfort embedded within the ordinary, they argue that these sites provide a necessary unexpected opportunity for intimacy, contemplation, and transformation – facilitating a transition from the mundane to the sacred. Throughout the paper, the journey into, through and out of a number of cemeteries is mapped in order to offer a multi-layered exposé of the most fundamental spatial elements and experiential aspects of this “rite of passage.” In the end, these seemingly vacant non-spaces emerge as a liminal space, as well as the site of an urban interiority, revealing the complex relationship between awareness and physicality. The overarching goal is to reintroduce the notion of the sacred into discussions on heritage, culture, and sustainability – to be able to propose an alternative perspective on “urban ecology.”