Lapse

Lapse provides a space that harkens to the initial period of rest: the development of the fetus inside the womb. The project’s superstructure aligns with the womb’s geometry, with a yonic wound on the ground’s surface, allowing for a small amount of light to enter the space. Below the gash across the earth, a drape of natural fibers forms a thin membrane that can support the weight of one person, creating a connection to the surrounding environment. The project provides a comforting and low-stimulant environment for terminally ill persons, existing as a potential final resting place, in the creation of a metaphorical death “bed”. Users are given a choice to exist permanently within the silk-like cocoon, a nod to the metamorphosis of death and rebirth, with sensations of weightlessness and a feeling of floating, relieving pain and encouraging a disconnection from the body. Following the user’s death, the cavity can be filled in, with the nutrients of the body providing for a tree grown from the project, existing as a form of rebirth, a connection to the development of the human body within the womb. Lapse also connects the stages of the sleep cycle and their parallelity to Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s stages of death, seeking to remove social norms towards death. With acceptance, the 5th stage connects to the REM stage. The structure can be used as a temporary sleeping space before the passing of the user, with the flowing membrane being able to be pulled up, removing the user from the hollowed-out cavern below the earth, and promoting a connection between the user and their final destination.