one tree in life and for death by future method from australia

For every birth, plant a tree. Plant the trees in a radial pattern either on the outskirts of a small town or at the heart of a big city. Choose a native tree that is good for joinery and grows straight and tall. Watch the forest grow as the city grows.

A tree is felled for each death. It’s timber milled and seasoned.

At the centre of this radial forest, find a space to build a furnace. Around the furnace make space for milling and seasoning timber and for making coffins.

On top of the furnace build a terrace with a ramp up to it.
Build a room on the terrace with walls thick enough to house the requirements of a service and for quiet viewing and contemplation.

Within these walls, non-denominational ceremonies can take place. At it’s centre is a plinth. If cremated the coffin will lower from the plinth to the furnace. If the body is for burial the coffin is taken in a processional to be buried in the forest where a tree is planted to mark the grave.

A tower rises out of the central room. The tower, over time, has it’s walls constructed, spiraling upwards, lined with cremation urns. There are places to sit in the tower with views out over the city. The radial forest of trees stretches out over the landscape, through the grid of the city and beyond.

The pinch of grief comes sharp to the heart. It’s great weight sits heavily amongst the everyday. I’d love to touch a tree that brought the memory of death but also of renewal and new life, that connected to an otherness.

This project is dedicated to my late mother.