The cemetery is classically meant to be a quite place. A place where relatives and loved ones are put to eternal rest. Once death snatches them from our presence, they sieze to belong with us but rather to the ages.They linger on as memories within us , an unforgiving absence that fades into the shadows.
Courtesy of © Zeynep Aksoz – AASchool
Zeynep Aksoz leverages the advances in digital technology to propose a cemetery befitting for our age and the future. In an interview with online design portal suckerPunch to delves deeper into her ideas for designing the Digital Cemetery at School in the AA, London.
Courtesy of © Zeynep Aksoz – AASchool
Her idea is that the digital cemetery will serve as a depository for the digital identities of loved ones in addition to their graves. These identities leverage the power of artificial intelligence to evolve and continue their existence. Spatially, the grave is reinvented to consists of light outlets which beam holograms of the digital self. This creates a graveyard of light beams that change the whole “darkness” perception that hangs around cemeteries.
Courtesy of © Zeynep Aksoz – AASchool
Indeed, merging the topic of death with digital technology will recreate a different relation between the living and the dead in an unimaginable way at the moment. It will lead to the generation of new relations , rituals of remembrance of loss ,of the void of absence etc.She concludes in her responses by relaying that she was inspired in this project by sedimentary rocks and Adam Ostrows TED Talk on “After Your Final Status Update”.
Courtesy of © Zeynep Aksoz – AASchool
Hassan Yakubu is an editor at Arch2O with a deep academic and professional background in architecture, planning, and urban infrastructure. Currently pursuing his Ph.D. at Cornell University, his editorial focus spans climate urbanism, sustainability transitions, and the intersection of infrastructure and STS. Hassan brings a sharp critical lens shaped by fieldwork in Accra and policy research across Africa. With prior experience leading pedagogical initiatives and contributing to architectural practices in Rabat and Accra, his writing brings clarity, academic depth, and a global perspective to contemporary urban issues and design thinking.