Questions on My Mind about the Psychology of Places Designed for Death

1. Where do I want my body to go after I die?
2. What’s the difference between coffin, shrine, and tomb?
3. Where are the most common places where people want their ashes to end up after they’re cremated?
4. Where do I want people to feel my presence after I die? My ideal environmental legacies
5. Are there psychological benefits or consequences to having a specific place to commune with one’s dead loved ones?
6. What are the different beliefs around the world for where people should be put to rest?
7. What thought goes into spaces designed for dying? Euthanasia, death bed, hospice…
8. Where would most people prefer to die? If the most common answer is in their bed, then where’re the second and third most common places?
9. What thought goes into the design of a cemetery? Who designs them?
10. Where do death rituals take place around the world? Cemetery, funeral home…
11. Where are the most deadly places in the world? Which environments throughout history have most people died in?
12. What are the variations in what people like to imagine the afterlife looks like? Do most people imagine a similar edenesque place?
13. What would a list of places people want to visit before they die look like?
14. Where do most criminal deaths take place?
15. Where do most people die in shows, movies, books, and plays?

Painted Graves

While many cultures typically view black as the color of mourning, some prefer to celebrate the lives of deceased loved ones with color. In Guatemalan towns such as Chichicastenango, family members paint graves with their loved ones’ favorite colors, refreshing them each year as a way to honor the departed. The result is a rainbow cemetery that feels like a vibrant city and a place to celebrate life, rather than a monument to death.