The Archive explores how a funeral service could move away from a traditional burial into an archive format where the collective memory of the cemetery is stored digitally. Keeping the ash and the physical body but also the soul and the character in the life of the deceased in the living memory of those who visit. Creating a time capsule that is filled with items that represent the character of the departed. Which has been curated by the family or the deceased themselves. The items are legacy and memory of the identity and soul of the departed. The tubes would be numbered like that of a library archive so anybody who wishes to know about the individuals buried here would be able to visit the archive room and look up the individual’s name. 

The architecture of the island moves through a series of forms just like the journeys of the different individuals who visit. The scale changes from very open natural Australian landscape of the island, to very small molecules of the ash of the deceased preserved in the archive. Moving from the cosmos to the intimate architecture of matter. 

Bluestone is used throughout the island to represent the journey of the island itself. From bushland to the quarry to the island, Herring Island has journeyed itself through the different phases of its being. 

Starting with the entry path of bluestone, the family is lead up and though the natural bush landscape to the field chapel. The large chapel which is the reception area for the different gatherings which will be held on the island is made up of two sections. The north large wing, for larger conclaves, and the small south wing for intimate gatherings. In the middle is the chapel. The curve ceilings have holes for light to dapple in over the stone architecture. To allow the natural landscape of the island to embrace the interior space, with large windows opening out onto the Australian landscape.  The architectural structural form is representative of scale, using the intertwining circles to fold out on itself, representing the many as the one. Just like the archive does for its occupants.

The meeting of the two different parts of the island, the public east side and the private west side, is called the Passover. The bluestone path turns and becomes the wall of the archive. The lake is to represent a change in the journey of the individual and allow for reflection. The steel grated path allows for the natural landscape to invade the space of the pathway, leading the individual to the archive room. 

The archive room is the public access to the history of the individuals in the collective archive. Their life and notes from family and friends are stored on a computer network. The large memorial space of the archive is made up of a large bluestone wall that wraps itself around the exterior of the open plateau in the middle of the island. The network of copper archive tubes is set into the stone wall allowing for visitors to turn and learn about the individuals who are buried in the archive.  The aging of the tubes over time will create a journey itself, allowing for a distinction between the different tubes.

The other form of the archive in the tubes scatted over the island, giving the family the option of a more private resting place in the Australian landscape.

 

The architecture of the archive seeks to combine the vast Australian landscape of herring island with the personalities of the different individuals. Where the notion of not just architecture as a kind of monument. But architecture as a way to mark and memorialise, to mark a moment in a monumental way.