Bordentown, nj
After Life: Garden of Eden Cemetery Design
Proposal Summary: Create a cemetery for Jewish people at the former site of the Divine Word Missionary
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden Cemetery is an unconventional resting place for any Jewish identifying individual. In the Bible, Genesis Chapter 3, it is written “for you were taken therefrom, for dust you are, and to dust you will return.” Jewish burial customs are inspired by this passage. Bodies of Jewish individuals are buried as soon as possible after death in a natural way, with no embalming or chemicals, in a wooden coffin with no nails, or just a shroud (sans coffin), in order for the body to return to the earth, from which it came. These burial traditions are not entirely environmentally friendly, or sustainable. A new way of burial is through body composting, a process that takes 6 weeks in an enclosed chamber where the body of the deceased will turn into nutritious compost.
Landscape Plan
Planting Plan
Holidays and Seasonality
The site features a Synagogue, which is the location for funeral services, and an auxilary building where the composting process takes place. Glass memorial panels are engraved with names and memories of individuals buried at this cemetery. Additionally, there is an additional winding pathway that will take visitors to a historical lake created by Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napolean Bonaparte who lived at the site in the early 1800’s.
One can meander along pathways throughout four meadows, each one pertaining to a different season and having a planting palette that corresponds to the Jewish holidays within that holiday season.
Lightbox Ideogram
Section Elevations
Topography Exploration