Design intentions
VERTICAL NECROPOLIS | CATACOMBS IN THE AIR The very first challenge in designing the vertical necropolis has been the way we face the issue of death in relation with life, from the Latin American point of view. Therefore some parameters seemed much crucial in the design process. PARAMETERS OF DESIGN: 1. Humour WITH DEATH Facing the issue of death, less seriously and formally, is one of the essential concepts of this design. The coffins have been randomly located across the space so as to remind a bunch of hovering balloons scattered humorously in the air. The suspension of coffins throughout the space mingles the set of living with dead. As if the bodies are present among the living, quite contrary to the way they lock the dead in orderly arranged graves of cold ground in most cemeteries. 2. BEING FACE TO FACE WITH DEATH As the Nobel Prize-winning Mexican writer Octavio Paz explained in his seminal work Labyrinth of Solitude: The Mexican ... is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it. True, there is as much fear in his attitude as in that of others, but at least death is not hidden away: he looks at it face to face, with impatience, disdain or irony. The coffins suspend in the space among the floors and among the living, face to face with living, as if they represent another layer of life. 3. LIFE & DEATH, TWO SIDES OF A COIN Life and death are two inevitable components in the truth of being; without one, the other is deprived of meaning. The robust metal structure of the building in this design reminds the body, trunk and dead roots of an old tree, as a symbol of death, while it meets the free regrowth of lively green plants on the outer facades. This tangling reminds us of the undeniable alliance of death and life as if they are two sides of a coin or essential parts of the life cycle.

Technical data
4. HYGIENE & CLEANING To achieve the best hygienic results in the building, every coffin has accurately been vacuumed and fixed on individual bases in its place. These bases are directly connected to the central suction system and transfer the remnants and particles due to decaying and corruption of the bodies to the central refinery, located at the lowest level of the basement. The particles are then disinfected and used as natural fertilizers to help the green plant layer on the outer facade grow better.

Project team
ROOZBEH TABANDEH (architect) HALEH VEDADINEJAD (architect) FARROKH TABANDEH (3d artist) SAHAR (GHAZAL) TABANDEH (architect)