DESIGN FOR DEATH
The Willis gravestone is a commemoration to the two individual's love and devotion to the land they lived, through designing a headstone that continues to respond and engage with its context.
Date: 2012-07-26
Client: Private
Program: Gravestone
Team: OCX: Luke Willis, Esin Erez
Location: Iowa, USA
Status: Construction / Honorable Mention
Link: Designboom
Stone, the inanimate mineral object is found all around us, commonly used for functional use, or dismissed as something on the side of the road, has also been monuments, places of worship, and symbols throughout history.
The elliptical geometry that is formed by the continuous and constant connection between the two foci is chosen as an appropriate shape for a grave stone marking a life that was shared by two. The ellipse is also found in nature as an egg, oval, or the planetary trajectory, evoking birth, creation, and cycle. Inspired by the symbolisims of the geometry, the gravestone is designed to have its own life by recording, reacting, and reshaping itself to its context.
The gravestone is created with a series of elliptical cuts and punches. The concave section not only provides for an optimum viewing angle for the visitor, but it also creates the effect that the stone is emerging from the ground. The central void is designed to act as a vessel for continuously capturing the time and nature of its context. Eventually with time, the stone marker will be enveloped by its site to become a part of its landscape.
CAPTURING SEASONAL CHANGES
OCX, Mete Caddesi, Suren Apartmani 4/8, Taksim, Istanbul 34457, Turkey Tel + 9 (0531) 5939855