Guest Book

This site records a project called 6 Feet Up, an examination of an alternative future for bereavement within the urban horizon - a postgraduate thesis. It was completed as part of the Seoul Satellite Unit in the Department of Architecture & Spatial Design at London Metropolitan University in collaboration with the Korean National University of Art in Seoul, South Korea.

A new comprehension is needed, of the typology of a site for mourning, of committal - to recognise death. We have moved our lives to the city - but our deaths are separated ever further in the land, under the hill or tree.

We have altered our practices and our rituals in tune with the progress of technology and the fashion of the times, but our simple need to reconcile death with life remains the same. This cannot be done by pushing the dead to the nearest strip of grass on the outskirts of the city.

Let us not cobble together some cold industrial process to faded images of our cultural heritage, but use technology to create a memorial that truly responds to the needs of our psychology. The memorial must respect our culture, in which our psychology is rooted, and in respect to our culture, bring that memorial to where we live - into the city.

I am not a Korean, I cannot feel like a Korean - but I can attempt to learn how one thinks by keeping my mind open to the worlds they create in their own image. By making a memorial for modern Seoul, perhaps the hidden worlds within my own culture will become more transparent.

Please feel free to leave comments on this page or on others that take your fancy. I do appreciate your time in reading my rambles, and would be grateful for opinions or insights, small or large.

If there are any questions about the site, whether about its subject or its construction, I would be more than happy to answer as best I can. If you would prefer to email me please feel free to do so via tomjimdown@gmail.com

Many thanks

TJD