Isaac Coates
A Return to Earth
Environmental Design
2026
The rituals surrounding death have historical, cultural and religious ties. Both the spaces they take place in and the processes themselves depend on often unsustainable practices. In a city like Toronto where land scarcity is a growing concern and populations continue to rise; it is important we look to new and innovative rituals for the dead. While creating new landscapes and spaces to honor them. Challenging the inaccessible and unsustainable practices currently in place. The project redefines what a cemetery can look like creating a new landscape for memorial within the downtown core. Throughout a series of underground programs including a nondenominational chapel for standard funerary ceremonies, a crematorium, a reception space, a mausoleum for ash storage, contemplation spaces and a body decomposition facility. Protrusions of the underground programs made visible from ground level transform the park into an urban site for memoriam. At its core, the body decomposition facility operates within a controlled environment to return human remains to natural matter, reframing decomposition as an integral and normalized part of the life cycle.
“This thesis proposes and environmentally conscious funeral complex that reimagines post life care through diverse memorial and burial practices. By situating the program within an underground environment, the project addresses urban land scarcity while challenging the inaccessible and monocultural nature of existing funeral practices. The remnants of such services become active participants of the space. Reimagining how funerary rituals can look and function. ”
