Recompose.Life

Locked in an empty gallery, Recompose.Life sat untouched in the Yale School of Architecture IN MEMORIUM exhibit as the world took refuge from the COVID-19 virus. The global crisis led many to rethink the ways we live; now, emerging, innovative approaches to end of life rituals and processes take on new significance. Recompose.Life is a representation of principal/owner Alan Maskin’s tomb, in which he chooses to be composted and returned to the earth. The submission imagines a transition to a new system of after-death care, inspired by Katrina Spade’s project, Recompose. The process converts human remains into organic soil, helping nourish new life after death. The diorama illustrates the sequence of the human composting process (following Maskin’s demise), yielding soil that fosters the growth and restoration of oxygen-rich forests. As communities cope with loss post-pandemic, Recompose.Life inspires a direct and conscious experience that honors the dead, while re-invigorating the living world.