Dust to Dust

An in-depth analysis on the Mozambican perspective towards Death matched with the concept of cremation. This is translated into a design that sustains the traditional funerary rites and where the main traits of this particular culture find architectonic expression, while integrated in a proposition for what is a fragmented and incomplete landscape.

In line of the recent catastrophe and based on the analysis of the subsequent problems concerning both sanitary issues resulted from the impossibility of burial (due to the floods that affected most of the territory), and the lack of qualified housing and urban design that would mitigate the impact of natural disasters, it is defined the task of reconciling the image of the existing city with a proposal of urban design that would, at first, complete an unfinished and flawed plan. Regarding the same problem, it is proposed a typology that raises a complementary problem and that implies an understanding and deconstruction of Mozambican culture and respective vision regarding the theme of Death. From this it is possible to build a ritual, in the form of an architectural solution, in which cremation is compatible with a vision based on specific beliefs and practices.\nAt the same time, it is made an in-depth analysis of the evolution of Funeral Architecture which establishes a correspondence between housing and the artefacts of death. Thus, a study is also carried out on the evolution of the traditional Mozambican housing in order to collect the perennial aspects that should be manifested in the developed equipment. As it is imperative to propose a solution to the problem of the “living”, this investigation also served as a basis for the design of new housing models.\nIt is both on the subject of Life and on the subject of Death that this work brings together an investigation that highlights various dimensions of this territory, within the scope of Architecture.