AWARD YEAR
2017
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Life On Land
KEYWORDS
Life after death, Burial, ECO-CONSCIOUSNESS
COUNTRY
Italy
DESIGNED BY
Raoul Bretzel and Anna Citelli
WEBSITE
http://www.capsulamundi.it/en/
Capsula Mundi - 'Death Pods'
A cultural project, which envisions a different approach to the way we think about death
Now you really can be a tree… when you’re six feet under. It might not seem so, but two Italian designers are being ‘dead’ serious about their idea of a perfect eco-friendly circle of life.
Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel have created a biodegradable burial pod that transforms your earthly remains into a tree through natural decomposition. As traditional burials practices leach toxic chemicals from the embalming process into the air and cremation releases noxious chemicals into the atmosphere, the pair designed Capsula Mundi ‘death pods’ to provide an afterlife of eco-consciousness – even when you are unconscious.
Made of biodegradable natural starch plastic, the potato-shaped pods are buried as a seed in the earth. Over time, they break down and feed the beech or birch tree planted on top. Whether buried in the foetal position, or interred as ash, the microbes and nutrients from the departed within feed the new organism.
Rest in potato...