Skip to content

Design for Death: Re-Imagining Deathcare

A plot of land in a cemetery is both a waste of space and money. It is also rather morbid – the stuff of Halloween displays – not to mention uncreative. 
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

A plot of land in a cemetery is both a waste of space and money. It is also rather morbid – the stuff of Halloween displays – not to mention uncreative. That is perhaps why when Big Think’s Design for Good blogger Teddy Zareva wrote of a Bios Urn that turns you into a tree when you die, the response was tremendous.


Now we hear that the concept has caught on to such as extent that an international design competition was launched “to re-imagine deathcare.” Designs for urns, eco coffins and resting places were among the 1,300 entries. One of our favorites: an urn with a GPS system that is designed to send your ashes into space. 

See the submissions here.

Watch a video of the winners here:

(h/t Hyperallergic)

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
The integration of artificial intelligence into public health could have revolutionary implications for the global south—if only it can get online.

Up Next