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ETD Abstract Container

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Collective Memory and Sacred Space: Understanding Memory and Sacredness as an Outline for the Secular Death Customs of the 21st Century

Major, Jordan
http://orcid.org/0009-0004-9888-2853
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1712914650663906

Abstract Details

2024, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
Abstract:
Memory impacts who we are as individuals and how we organize and structure the world around us. Many theorists have questioned whether memory is an individual or collective experience, and the answer to that question remains to be determined. Nonetheless, religion, its practices, and its rituals has historically impacted the memories and, subsequently, the death practices of people throughout history. This begs the question of whether sacred death practices and deathscapes can be cultivated, outside of the context of religion, to express and affect the collective memory of today’s society. An in-depth analysis of the theory surrounding collective memory – as defined by Maurice Halbwachs in La Memoire Collective and extrapolated upon by Aldo Rossi in The Architecture of the City – and the theory regarding the components of the sacred – written upon by Ioan Augustin in Sacred Space and practically applied to contemporary spaces by Thomas Barrie in Spiritual Path, Sacred Place – was conducted. This provided criteria for the components of the sacred, against which several deathscape precedents were compared. Results indicated that, while some precedents had been successful in the creation of deathscapes which had met the criteria of sacred space, even outside of overtly religious connotations, very few of these projects had been completed in the United States. Given that the United States has had a long and complex history regarding death practices and the creation of deathscapes, the applicability of the aforementioned precedent analyses is limited. It is critical then that a new deathscape is designed that can reflect and be reflected in the contemporary collective memory of American society.
Vincent Sansalone, M.Arch. (Committee Member)
Edward Mitchell, M.Arch (Committee Chair)
46 p.
Architectural
collective memory; memory; sacred space; religion; cemetery; deathscapes

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Major, J. (2024). Collective Memory and Sacred Space: Understanding Memory and Sacredness as an Outline for the Secular Death Customs of the 21st Century [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1712914650663906

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Major, Jordan. Collective Memory and Sacred Space: Understanding Memory and Sacredness as an Outline for the Secular Death Customs of the 21st Century. 2024. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1712914650663906.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Major, Jordan. "Collective Memory and Sacred Space: Understanding Memory and Sacredness as an Outline for the Secular Death Customs of the 21st Century." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1712914650663906

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1712914650663906
110
© 2024, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Collective Memory and Sacred Space: Understanding Memory and Sacredness as an Outline for the Secular Death Customs of the 21st Century by Jordan Major is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.