Wood waste often exists longer as waste compared to its product state or even original form. This material, once a vital part of nature, is discarded, deemed unusable, and left in landfills. More Life, More Death looks to re-image the way we harvest and use wood to create a more circular system. By first, utilizing outputs as inputs, the project looks to reuse products by scaling them down after initial use, to gain a greater return on harvested trees. The project then looks to localize extraction by taking advantage of a shift in burial traditions by memorializing the dead with trees. This will create a deeper attachment between us and our trees and forest leading to a better relationship and a new system of value for our wood overall.
The project becomes architecture at the Red Hook Grain Terminal by providing a place for harvested trees and reclaimed lumber to be milled, dried, and stored while providing a public space for commemorating the trees that once stood as memorials in cemeteries. In addition, the structure acts as an elevated public space for a community whose existing park is plagued by toxic waste and is projected to flood by 2063.
