How
do we bring life into the landscape of death?
Chris Liu z5184533
I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal and the Wangal of Eora Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the lands we live in and study in for this studio. I would like to pay my respect to the Elders past, present and emerging.
Cemeteries are also one of the most toxic landscapes in modern cities (Russell-Clarke 2019). There’s a huge amount of carbon emission in the process of cremation and the long-term cemeteries maintenance, as well as the intensive use of resources such as granite, woods. Not to mention the amount of toxins such as mercury that got released during cremation and the long term burial.(A Will for the Woods n.d.).
An average cremation requires 40 litres of petrol, enough to drive from Sydney to Port Macqaurie. Older cremators consume even twice that. (Department of Environment and Energy 2011)
160 kg of carbon dioxide is emitted on the day of a cremation (Sydney Morning Herald 2008) . About 360,000 tons annually, equivalent of driving to the sun and back five times.
For long-term impacts, traditional burial generally has a 10% higher environmental impact than cremation, as it is a more labour and resource-intensive process
An average 4 hectare cemetery holds enough embalming fluid to fill a small swimming pool. They could leak and contaminate our soil and waterways.
With some of largest cemeteries in Sydney projected to close in 3 years while all of other currently operational cemeteries expected to close to new burials in 10-12 years (Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2020). More than 160,000 people died in Australia in 2020 and the number of people aged over 85 has increased by 133% over the last 20 years.
While natural burial has become a greener alternative, most service providers in Sydney have faced the difficulties of acquiring lands which limits the interment option to suburban and regional areas.
• Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2020, Report on the Statutory Review of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013 entitled ‘The 11th Hour - Solving Sydney’s Cemetery Crisis’, The Parliament of NSW, accessed on https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/papers/Pages/tabled-paper-details.aspx?pk=79204
• Gorman, A 2021 ‘Burial ground zero: the crisis facing Sydney’s cemeteries’, The Guardian,4 April 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/04/burial-ground-zero-the-crisis-facing-sydneys-cemeteries
In the 19th and early 20th century, urban dwellers flopped to rural cemeteries for picnic and other leisure activities due to its public parklike quality before large public park existed. Cemeteries landscapes nowadays are now mostly only used by the death, or for the death related business. ‘Culturally and socially and physically, people are being pushed further and further away from death’ (Dr Hannah Gould, president of the Australian Death Studies Society 2021)
Intensively maintained lawn is the dominant landscape in cemeteries in Sydney which generally lack of habitat complexity. There are potentials for urban cemeteries to become an important part of the Sydney Green Grids and wildlife habitats by transforming the aesthetic to a more wildlife-friendly and habitats-rich complex.
There has been responses from the cemetery industry in Australia to the issue: switching to renewable tenure and shortening tenure, increasing burial densities and decreasing plot sizes, acquiring new cemetery space and renewing the existing ones. However they are still within the constraints of the traditional cemetery model which makes these moves not sustainable in the long run. We need to explore new forms of interment to solve the root problems.
If the industry doesn’t act quickly and holistically, the gruesome death scene and sanitary issue in the 19th century of the old Sydney burial ground might happen again.
The colony’s first public abattoir Glebe Island Abattoirs was once located on site which supplied meat to Sydney between 1860-1915. It was linked to Pyrmont and the city by the old Glebe Island Bridge.
Glebe Abattoirs 1870s. (image: Pyrmont History Group https://pyrmonthistory.net.au/glebe-island)
‘In 1882, 524,415 sheep, 69,991 cattle, 31,269 pigs and 8,348 calves were slaughtered there.’
Approximate location of the previous Glebe Island Abattoirs
Sydney Superyacht Marina went through a $30millions worth of development in 2016 to expand and upgrade both land and water structures. According to Ports and Waterway minister Joe Tripodi, one average 35m long super yacht injects minimum $2 million of running cost into Sydney’s economy each year.
On the flip side, it can lead to the lack of inclusivity and become a place only services the affluent.
https://www.superyachttimes.com/yacht-news/infrastructure-develop-
There are existing trees species that are from the local ecological communities (Sandstone Slope Forest and Woodland community) such as casuarina spp. and eucalyptus spp. They are mostly in good condition and mature stage which indicates soil depth and quality potentials.
Two vulnerable bat species have been sighted within the close proximity of the site: Southern Myotis (Myotis macropus) and Grey Headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus).
Particularly, souther myotis has been reported roosting under the jetties in Rozelle Bay and surrounding area (Gonsalves & Law 2017).
The water body is more shallow and calm compared with White Bay and Glebe Island which present potentials for inter tidal habitats and more interactive experience.
There is pleasant summer breeze coming from the water. The existing built form allows great solar access to the site. DOMINANT WIND (JAN TO MARCH, OCT TO NOV) DOMINANT WIND (APRIL TO SEPT)
The site represent lots of opportunities to reuse existing buildings, amenities and surfaces with minimal modification and cost at early stage. Existing structures have the potentials to reveal great unique site characters.
• Buildings with toilets and kitchenettes in good conditions.
• Concrete surface in good conditions.
• Indoor and outdoor car park.
• Pontoons, moorings, poles and related marina structures
• Barges, and other marine construction structures
• Sheds, shipping containers
There is a canal underground between the White Bay Power House Station and the site which was built in 1912 and used to draw water from Rozelle Bay to cool down the turbines of the power station.
Currently, workers from the marina, cement truck drivers and other staff are the dominant users/’owners’ of the site. There is no public activities seen around entrances. From a CPTED perspective, this has formed a sense of territoriality which lacks inclusivity in a public space.
Prior to the reclamation, the site was once a swampy foreshore with mangroves and inter tidal vegetation. Soil under the fill materials has been identified as potential Acid Sulfate Soil. If it’s disturbed and exposed to oxygen, it releases aluminium and iron, attacks soil minerals, damages buildings and structures. The heavy metal can be washed away by rainfalls into the surrounding environment (NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2021)
The site is mostly contaminated with:
• Heavy metal
• TPH/VOC
• PAHs: Polycylic aromatric hydrocarbon
• Asbestos
• Solvent
• TBT (a biocide)
• Herbicides
• PCBs (industrial products or chemicals.)
• OCPs (organochlorine pesticides)
Leveling Fills: Unknown compact materials, usually mixed with industrial waste.
Potential Acid Sulfate Soil identified under the fill materials.
Water: high level of dissolved oxygen; total nitrogen; total phosphorus; enterococci; chlorophyll-a; total suspended solids(TSS) are present.
What if cemetery landscape shares the urban space with the public life and working marina in a healthy and meanigful way?
Heat generated by renewable energy
80-120mins
non organic items such as implants
Irrigate and fertilise
Water and a sterile mix of amino acids
Ash pulverised from remained
Stored in a biodegradable pots with soil and seeds and buried
Taken to more private
Heat generated by renewable energy
80-120mins
non organic items such as implants
Potassium hydroxide
Water and a sterile mix of amino acids
Ash pulverised from remained
Irrigate and fertilise
un-embalmed body
Controlled environemnet with an optimal ratio of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and moisture.
chips,
4weeks
Organic compost
Bush regeneration project
2 weeks
non organic items such as implants
Take home to garden
Stored in a biodegradable pots with soil and seeds and buried
Taken to more private
Anti-memorials critique the illusion that the permanence of stone somehow guarantees the permanence of the idea it commemorates. In contrast, anti-memorials formalise impermanence and even celebrate their own transitory natures. Anti-memorials encourage multiple readings of political and social issues, and prompt a different level of physical interactivity.
(Ware 2004)
Essentially, new interment options encourage people to view themselves as only one single part of the ecosystem and to recognise and celebrate the transformation and cyclicity of lives within.
From reclaiming the public space and bring the public back to the site, to gather communities to build the space, then to protect and nurture the space with environmental stewardship and the respect for the departed...
Stage 1
Business
relocation and
upgrade of circulation
Upgrade circulation
Solar panels
Site clean up
Stage 2
Local activation (100% increase of visitors per week)
Stage 3
Conversation (30% increase of visitors per week from stage 3)
Stage 4
Intro to Cemetery (3000 funerals and 20% increase of visitors per week from stage 4)
Stage 5
Extending the Journey (10% increase of visitors per week from stage 5)
Regeneration/remediation workshops partnered with local schools, Indigenous knowledge holders, uni students and scientists
Kite flying workshops
Temporary basketball court and ping pong tables
Provision of temporary shade protection
Spare pontoons open for public access to water
Temporary roller skate court (Line marking and existing structures)
Moonlight roller skate club (upgrade of lightings and amenities)
Upcycle workshops partnered with local artists to reuse site materials and create ‘site confetti’
Guided yoga and meditation classes
Native gardening workshops
Interpretive games and activation
Construct stormwater treatment
Canal habitats creation
Installation of cemetery facilities
Self-guided Interpretive walk
Festival of Death
Open and development of Mushroom Tunnel
Ceremonial Groves Boardwalk
Install lift access to upper silo
White Creek Mangroves regeneration
Expansion of cemetery groves
Upgrade foreshore edge conditions
Monthly nighttime flea markets
Upgrade the connection to headland park
Revealing the canal
Locate pubic activities around entrance to increase visibility and invitation
Landmark creates thresholds to indicate the precinct is being managed
Create ‘landscape rooms’ by different experience nodes within the movement corridor
Public recreational activities will mostly located near foreshore to allow adequate privacy and buffer from the ceremonial and reflective space.
KEY
Irrelevant businesses: easy to be moved to inland locations
High visual impact (‘messy’) but less requirements for foreshore conditions.
Relocating offices to more inland location to maximise the public accessibility of the foreshore areas. Reusing existing amenities and structure where possible.
Relocate marine construction to the north of Glebe Island Bridge
New circulation provide separation between pedestrians and heavy vehicles specifically trucks that are currently predominant on site. The usual functioning and operation of the business on site are guaranteed in the new circulation. Only marine forklifts area allow in the foreshore shared zones to ensure safety of the pedestrians and the fair shared public uses of foreshore.
Parking (cemetery only in the future)
Cemetery vehicles only
Solar power panels will be installed on the roof of most buildings thanks to the existing built form and high level of sun exposure of the site. It aims to run on 100% renewable energy on site.
Focus on quick, low-cost, place making approaches that require little to non new construction in order to bring the public into the site while maintaining the working marina waterfront.
1 REMEDIATION FIELDS
2 BASKETBALL COURT
3 SPARE PONTOON FOR PUBLIC ACCESS
4 SHARED WORKING ZONE
Reuse site materials as temporary furniture
Working waterfront with line marked indication
Negotiate with marina to spare a small part of the pontoons for public use.
Simple activation such as lying nets between structures, sun lounges and hammocks etc to provide opportunities to share this once exclusive space with the yachts.
Focus on engaging the public into the process of healing and transforming the space in order to foster a sense of local ownership and responsibility in the long run, as well as increasing environmental awareness and environmental stewardship within the neighbourhoods.
1 REMEDIATION FIELDS
2 CANAL HABITATS
3 STORMWATER ‘CREEK’
4 CLIFF ‘TRENCH’
5 NATIVE COMMUNITY GARDEN
6 AMPHITHEATER SPACE
Interpretive games and conversation around death
Guided yoga and meditation classes
Sharing the working waterfront
Grey Headed Flying Foxes feed on fruit and nectar from native trees specifically eucalyptus, banksia and melaleuca.
They both need fresh water in their diets.
Grey Headed Flying Foxes camp on mangroves and forests
Southern Myotis preys on small fish, prawns & aquatic macro-invertebrates
Southern Myotis roost under jetties, bridges, caves, mines etc.
Currently there is a small amount of national precedents of larger scale site phytoremediation practices, especially with native species. What if the site can be a long term testing fields collaborating with local universities and schools, scientists and citizens to explore the potentials of Sydney indigenous plant species in phytoremediation?
Lomandra longifolia (reduce rate of contaminants leaching)
Carpobrotus rossii (Phytoextraction of Cd)
Cymbopogon ambiguus (Rhizoremediation of oil/diesel)
Hypolepis muelleri (Phytostablisation of Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn)
Dennstaedtia davallioides (Phytostablisation of Cu, Zn)
Crassula helmsii (Phytoextraction of Cd, Zn)
Juncus usitatus (Reduce rate of contaminants leaching)
Research has shown that mushrooms can convert pesticides and herbicides to more innocuous compounds, remove heavy metals from brownfield sites, and break down plastic. There are precedents in New Zealand where fungi was used to remove heavy metals from contaminated soil.
Oyster mushrooms: clean up oil spills, break down DDT in 28 days
White Rot Fungus: break down pesticides from run-off
Trischoderma fungi: remove metal from water by collecting and concentrating it in their fruiting bodies
Puffball Mushrooms: Abosorb heavy metal
King Stropharia: Abosorb heavy metal
Southern Myotis (Myotis macropus) is the only fish eating bats in Australia. They forage over water catching insects and small fish by raking their feet across the water surface. Therefore creating habitats for them also means improving marine habitats in Rozelle Bay.
Rocks and man made reefs to increase inter tidal habitats opportunities around the vertical seawall
Floating reefs to increase habitats complexity
Potentials to upgrade pontoons surface into high light penetration surface to allow sunlight into the underwater habitats in later stages
Both Grey Headed Flying Fox and Southern Myotis require freshwater in their diet although they also drink salt water. Constructed stormwater retention aim to filter stormwater run-off and improve Rozelle Bay water quality, as well as provide freshwater source for wildlife.
- Species preferred by Grey Head Flying Foxes for nectars and fruits
- Species from the original ecological communities : wetland ecology and sandstone slope woodland and forest ecology.
- Ensure flowers and fruits availability all year round.
Wiritjiribin (July-Aug)
Eucalyptus crebra
Eucalyptus sideroxylon
Eucalyptus robusta
Banksia integrifolia
Banksia spinulosa
Banksia robur
Burrugin(June-July)
Elaeocarpus reticulatus
Melaleuca quinquenervia
Banksia ericifolia
Corymbia maculata
(April-June)Marrai’gang
Burran(Jan-March)
Grevillea robusta
Eucalyptus camaldulensis
Acacia mearnsii
Melaleuca linearis
Parra’dowee (Nov-Dec)
Casuarina glauca
Melaleuca stypheloides
Leptospermum juniperinum
Callistemon salignus
ericifolia
Southern Myotis tend to roost under bridge, jetties and structures in urban area while there’s report showing them roosting under jetties in Rozelle Bay. There are potentials to enhance the habitat capability of the underground canal for them.
The regeneration of mangroves will provide home for marine flora, fauna and micro organism which would then become the food source for Southern Myotis. The mangroves will also provide food and resting place for the Grey Headed Flying Fox, forming a whole habitat system.
Landmark can be used as a threshold into the cemetery. It is to be created by local artists with recycled site materials and structures.
seating nooks Cemetery facility entry (cemetery cars only)
Introducing the landscape of death into people’s everyday recreations. Focus on creating adequate separation between private ceremonies and public recreation, as well as a linear experiential journey. Avoid ‘spooky’ emptiness in nighttime by regular nighttime activation.
4
2
Different areas of the site are characterised by planting and materiality typologies to create different experiences and ‘rooms’ throughout the linear journey.
Ceremonial nooks with vegetation screening to provide privacy
Accessible elevated boardwalk avoids disturbance of bioremediation process in the soil.
Proposed lift access to upper level
The dark and humid quality of the existing tunnel present potentials to be transformed into a mushroom farm. Natural compost after the interment process can optionally be donated by the family of the deceased and be used as growing medium for the mushrooms which will later be used for mycoremediation on site.
Glebe Island Bridge on top will be open for pedestrian and cyclists in the future
Visitors will be able to walk through the main tunnel where they will experience how life transform and continue in different forms.
The side tunnels will be used as mycellium/mushroom lab and open for staff only.
After walking out of the dark and humid Mushroom Tunnel, the visitor will be open up to a framed view of the harbour bridge and beautiful Sydney Harbour. This requires coordination with other development in Glebe Island from earlier stages to preserve the uninterrupted view from the tunnel.
Activities like monthly night market, moonlight roller skate club will take place on site to avoid the stereotype of spooky cemetery evenings and taboo around it. Location of these activities will be at the foreshore with buildings and adequate separation from the ceremonial groves and canal habitats.
Stage 4 will be looking into the needs and potentials to expand ceremonial groves to the upper part of the site which is currently an empty lot next to the silo. 1
3
This stage will also explore the potentials to turn Glebe Island Bridge into a linear park with the open and panoramic view of the bays and Glebe Island. It could potentially become part of the journey of the cemetery experience.
Exploring the potentials to coordinate with other developments in Glebe Island for the future headland park as part of the headland parks network around Sydney Harbour.
What if you can connect the site, through the Mushroom Tunnel to the headland park in a cohesive pedestrian green link?
What if we reveal the underground canal near White Bay Power Station precinct to form a corridor for marina habitats and mangroves? It connects not only the wildlife but also the heritage of the site and the public.
