The interactive map highlighting places related to death and dying in London.
The interactive map of London - waving your hand across the screen revealed further information about the places related to death and dying.
Infographics related to changing approaches to death hung on the back wall. The four tables each represented one of the years 1914, 1948, 1981 or 2014, with the postcards on them showing the sequence of spaces that people pass through on either side of death.
A close up of some of the postcards showing the spaces people pass through on either side of death. This sequence is from 1981.
The infographic panels showing changing demographic patterns over the past century, changing causes of death, where people die.
Close up of one of the infographic panels, showing demographic change from 1914 to 2014. The panels were produced as reliefs, from which exhibition visitors could take rubbings.
Death in Venice
An exhibition on changing approaches to death and how architecture has changed with it, shown during the opening week of the Venice Architecture Biennale, 2014. Where we die is a critical part of how we die and these two things underpin a lot of cultural ideas about what a 'good death' is. The exhibition told this story using interactive maps, infographics and photography, aiming to bring a lighter touch to a heavy subject and invite the audience to engage with it more deeply.
The past century has seen significant change to medicine, sanitation, the availability of healthcare and to the architecture that provides space for those things. A hundred years ago, people typically died of infectious diseases, such as pneumonia and without treatment, would often die quite quickly, at home, surrounded by friends and family. With the discovery of antibiotics, such as penicillin, it became possible to treat these diseases, while the establishment of welfare states across Europe in the aftermath of WW2, made this treatment available to everyone within those societies. Life expectancy grew as a result. We now tend to die of degenerative diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, with many people having a long period of poorer health at the end of their lives. We are also much more likely to die in a hospital, with only a small number of people dying at home.
Architecture related to death and dying changed at a similarly fast pace. Modern hospitals didn’t exist before the early 20th century, with people previously having been treated at home, or not at all. Cremation was considered taboo in the UK even 100 years ago, with the first crematorium built in Woking in 1878 and architects working hard since to work out what exactly a crematorium should be. The first modern hospice was set up in London in 1967, also much later than is typically thought, creating another new building type that needed to be designed almost from scratch. While memorial has been thoroughly studied from an architectural perspective, the architecture of death and dying has not. This exhibition aimed to plug that gap.
‘Death in Venice’ shown at Ludoteca Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Venice (Italy) from 4-11 June 2014 was an independent exhibition during the opening week of the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Team:
Curation and exhibition concept: Alison Killing, Stephen Kirk, Ania Molenda, George Wilson
Graphic design and interactive installations: LUST
Exhibition production support: Alessandro Borgomainerio, AB Venice
Research: Abigail Batchelor, Rachel Engler and Magnus Weightman
PR: Giulia Milza and Maria Azzurra Rossi, mintLIST
With thanks to Sabina Arbouw, Kuno Mayr, Daryl Mulvihill and Harald van der Sluys Veer.
The exhibition was funded by a grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL and with support from EGM Architecten, Printerpro and the Death in Venice Kickstarter campaign.
Press
An interview with TED, going into detail about the ideas behind the exhibition and the process of developing it.
Review of the exhibition in the Architects Journal