In 1997, i graduated Cum Laude with project Dood? at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. The project started with research into the influence of new legislation within the funeral industry and the influence of immigration on the Dutch funeral culture.

The differences in how funerals were experienced in the Netherlands turned out to be great, especially due to the traditional bias on efficiency. Due to a lack of their own creative input, many interviewees experienced the funeral of their loved one as incomplete.

Based on that insight, I developed a scenario in which the contribution of the dying person and the next of kin is central. By adding a manufacturing component (sawing, folding, breaking) to the product, a ritual was created that takes time and connects. The starting point was also that the products would be available at “unusual” but logical locations (such as hardware store, flower shop and hobby shop), in order to avoid the influence of the established funeral industry.

To illustrate this vision, I designed and built three prototypes: a do-it-yourself coffin consisting of two printed OSB plates, a coffin for children with a semi-transparent biodegradable shell and a shroud made out of flexible cross-cut elm wood.