REAL ESTATE
Floating cemeteries rethink space for remembrance
Water-based memorials address land shortages in coastal cities across the floating economy.
Floating Cemetery Concept. Image by BREADstudio.
Land for burial is scarce in many cities. Designers and communities are exploring water as a place of memory. Within The Floating Economy, floating cemeteries illustrate how even rituals of life and death can shift offshore.
Neptune Memorial Reef – Florida, USA: Located off Miami’s coast, Neptune is the world’s largest underwater cemetery. Cremated remains are mixed into eco-friendly concrete, forming an artificial reef that doubles as a marine habitat.
Columbarium at Sea – Hong Kong: Architect Tin-Shun But’s design envisions a floating columbarium anchored offshore to ease Hong Kong’s severe land shortage for memorial sites.
Floating Eternity – Hong Kong: BREADstudio proposed a floating cemetery platform combining memorial niches with public park space, highlighting how remembrance could coexist with urban leisure.
Floating cemeteries remain rare, but they address urgent needs in dense coastal regions. From Miami’s working reef memorial to visionary projects in Hong Kong, they show how The Floating Economy adapts even end-of-life traditions to water.
—TFI
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