The Culture of Cemeteries in Savannah

THE CULTURE OF CEMETERIES IN SAVANNAH

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THE CULTURE OF CEMETERIES IN SAVANNAH

THE SCOPE:

The goal of this project was to conduct extensive contextual research based on applied ethnographic methods in order to understand the culture of cemeteries in Savannah. The aim was to use different tools and methods used in design research to understand cemeteries holistically by collecting data, synthesizing information, analyzing it and coming up with insights that can redefine the future of cemeteries in Savannah.

THE TEAM:

SHANNON VANDERHILL Design Management

FATIMA BABAR Service Design

JAY PRAJAPATI Industrial Design

LIEN-FENG CHAN Industrial Design

Favorite Cemetery: Laurel Grove North is so serene and beautiful. It is in a magical state of decay. Kelly green and deep rust colors are everywhere you look.

Favorite Cemetery: Colonial Park is central to Savannah.

People use it as a thoroughfare and a lunch spot. It is so old, yet so current to the culture of Savannah.

Favorite Cemetery: Bonaventure Cemetery has a historical richness and a high cultural value with respect to Savannah. It also has a history of famous residents.

Favorite Cemetery: Greenwich Cemetery is a hidden gem. It is so peaceful right there on the river. There is a pond area with a bridge that is quiet and beautiful.

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CONTENTS

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TOPIC FLUENCY

PLANS

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Conversations Around Cemeteries

69

Research Plan

29

Form, Disposition, & Experience

73

Observation Plan

43

The What and Why of Cemeteries

77

Observation Templates

53

Saturations & Opportunities

63

Discovering Cemeteries

67

Sources

80

112

FLY & SHADOW

APPRENTICESHIP

83

Observation Working Wall

115

User Defination Matrix

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User Journeys

121

Interviews

143

Interview Tools

146

164

AFFINITIZING

INSIGHTS

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Affinity: Yellow

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Value Frameworks

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Affinity: Blue

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Insight: Frenemies

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Affinity: Pink

183

Insight: Old is Gold

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Affinity: Green

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Insight: Mere Mortals

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Insight: Less is... Less

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Insight: Beautiful Backdrop

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Insight: Alive & Kicking

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Insight: Space Out

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Insight: Never too Late to Learn

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TOPIC FLUENCY

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The first phase of the project required us to get fluent in the topic based on secondary research. We selected four methods to map and visually represent the secondary research we conducted pertaining to our scope of work from the book 101 Design Methods by Vijay Kumar. We chose models that would best represent the culture of cemeteries in every dimension that will help us as the project evolves.

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CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES We wanted to use the popular media search method in order to gain in depth knowledge about cemeteries and build a strong foundation of research that would feed into other research models.

It was crucial for us to first understand the conversations that were taking place around the world about cemeteries to gain a wide perspective. We looked diverse content ranging from news outlets, research papers from experts and bloggers perspective to develop the popular media search model. This model armed us with a wide array of knowledge about culture in and around cemeteries. It was a starting point to understand the topic in depth and use the gained knowledge to collaborate on additional model.

TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: PROCESS

›› We briefly discussed the different topic we could start researching around cemeteries based on our knowledge and identified sources that would inform our research best. We dug information from research papers, news outlets and bloggers on topics ranging from Culture of cemeteries to future of cemeteries, the rituals, history, users, technology and sustainability. While in the process of research we got introduced to newer topics and kept informing our research to and fro. After collecting articles we read them and extracted interesting data points that would help us shape our project.

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: PROCESS

›› We reviewed each data point to find patterns and create a cluster of information that fell under a big topic to help us utilize it as we moved on developing the project further.

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: PROCESS

›› The final step was to dig micro key findings by analyzing and synthesizing data points and discover vast focus area options that will pave the way to develop insights at the end of the project.

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: DATA Below are the big topics that were shaped after reviewing the data points and finding patterns that formed a cluster.

SOURCES KEY:

DARK TOURISM:

FAITH:

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

EVENTS:

LAND USE:

TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: DATA

TECHNOLOGY:

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

TOURISM:

TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: DATA

EXPERIENCE:

SUSTAINABILITY:

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

FASHION:

SUPERSTITION:

TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: DATA

ISOLATION:

HISTORY:

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

BEAUTY:

BUSINESS:

TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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CONVERSATIONS: DATA

BEHAVIOR:

POPULATION:

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TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

KEY FINDINGS

Age Appeal

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Cemeteries must be of a certain age to appeal to the greater comunity.

The Key Findings were derived from the model.

Disposition & Individuality

Their is a limit to the usefulness of technology in terms of cemeteries. It must resonate, connect, and avoid superficiality.

A Quiet Place

Unlike public parks whose focus is on activity and play, cemeteries provide a place for walking, and contemplation.

Digital Mourning

Traditional cemeteries deceptively appear to be green but need to adopt sustainable practices to become truly green.

Plan for More There is potential for cemetery planners and architects to design cemeteries to accommodate other activities as well as internment.

Location Relations

The location of cemeteries in relation to urban centers reflects and effects our relationship with death.

Celebrity Cemetery

The famous dead attract tourists and customers.

Cemeteries can capitalize on this by gaining celebrities as customers.

Behave Yourself

Despite the evolving role of cemeteries, there are still strict expectations for appropriate behavior.

Taphophiles, Unite!

“Cemetery Enthusiasts” can’t decide on a name for themselves, which is indicative of an opportunity to create a community of practice.

Everybody Wins

Internment provides the double comfort of immortality for the interred and closure and closeness for the grieving.

TOPIC FLUENCY CONVERSATIONS AROUND CEMETERIES

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE Cemeteries have gone through major shifts in the past few decades hence we chose to use trends matrix which summarized the changes happening today leading to a future direction and an Era’s map to understand what triggered this evolution across history. This hybrid model helped us understand the past and present and the future direction that cemeteries are headed in worldwide. Informed by secondary research, we examined these triggers based on socio-political influences, culture and religion, People and behavior, Landscape and architecture, Technological advancements, business and policy.

TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION AND EXPERIENCE

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE: PROCESS

›› After formalizing the popular media search model we started discussing different triggers that shaped trends based on the data we had collected. We identified data points that catered to trends and determined the time frame to analyze trends. The trend matrix gave a higher-level summary of the shifts occurring around cemeteries across three centuries.

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TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE: PROCESS

›› We then conducted a brainstorming session to find clusters amongst the categories of trends and the past, present, and future to discover shifts and named the eras.

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TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE: PROCESS

›› We analyzed the trends and era matrix to discover micro key findings highlighting the shifts in the culture of cemeteries through the last three centuries.

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TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE: DATA Below are the key triggers and data points that shaped the trends matrix.

COLOR KEY:

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TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE: DATA

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TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

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FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE: DATA

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TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

KEY FINDINGS

Socio-Political Influence

›› The Key Findings were derived from the model. Origins are matched by colored dots.

Disposition & Individuality

Cemeteries can engage with local businesses through partnerships and events to attract tourists.

Digital Relationships

Cemeteries can connect with other cemeteries and competing services to integrate records databases.

Natural Disposition

Traditional cemeteries deceptively appear to be green but need to adopt sustainable practices to become truly green.

Garden to Skyscraper

Cemeteries can reconsider what is “beautiful” in terms of the green movement in order to remain competitive as a park space.

Cemeteries can innovate by capitalizing on previously forbidden activities.

The Role of Cemeteries

Cemeteries can enhance the ceremony of burial to increase the feeling of nearness for long distance mourners.

Perpetuity Isn’t Perpetual

Cemeteries can capitalize on the morbid fascination of dark tourists by integrating their interests into the activities and services of the cemetery.

Experience at Graves

There is opportunity for cemeteries to expand activities to include entertainment and nightlife.

Seperation to Connection

Cemeteries can address and embrace individuality through their internment services.

Natural and Digital

Cemeteries can story telling in popular culture to influence thier public perception.

TOPIC FLUENCY FORM, DISPOSITION & EXPERIENCE

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THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES Cemeteries function as an ecosystem and never in isolation. We wanted to understand that system in terms of what cemeteries offer, what activities occur and why. Hence we chose to utilize the offering-culture-activity map to understand how offerings and activities are linked to culture and resonate with the users and stakeholders. An in depth understanding of these dynamics helped us analyze the existing activities and create innovative offerings and activities for cemeteries. The offering-activityculture map gave us a systematic overview of cemetery as an ecosystem. It highlighted what offering links to which activities and why is it culturally relevant. We were also able to understand some of the key motivations and cultural drivers that make the offerings relevant or redundant in today’s time. We recognized different connections within the system and how the other influences one which led us to come up with micro key findings with opportunities for additional activities and improvement of existing ones.

TOPIC FLUENCY THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES

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THE WHAT AND WHY: PROCESS

›› We mapped offerings and activities basing it on the knowledge gained from the previous two models. We first mapped all the offerings followed by activities that linked to those offerings.

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TOPIC FLUENCY THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES

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THE WHAT AND WHY: PROCESS

›› We then probed what cultural influence triggers a certain activity and mapped that. We went back to secondary research to refine it and include more offerings and activities and create linkages amongst them.

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TOPIC FLUENCY THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES

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THE WHAT AND WHY: PROCESS

›› The final step in the process was to identify clusters and dig micro key findings that provide opportunities of innovation.

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TOPIC FLUENCY THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES

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THE WHAT AND WHY: DATA

REMEMBRANCE

SAYING GOODBYE

STRESS MANAGEMENT

CONSOLATION

REST

PEACE CEREMONY

LAST WISHES

VISITING/MOURNING

INTERNMENT

PREPARATION CELEBRATION

GRIEF

TOURISM

FORGIVENESS/DEBT

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

FUNERAL PLANNING

EMOTION/LOVE

ARCHITECTURE

NEARNESS MAINTENANCE

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

HISTORY PRAYER

RECORD KEEPING

CEMETERIES

STORY TELLING

PUBLIC EVENTS

HORROR

EXHUMATION

FILM PRODUCTION

LEARNING BEAUTY

GRAVE ROBBING

ENTERTAINMENT

SUSTAINABILITY HALLOWEEN

ROLE PLAY

VANDALISM

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

SELF EXPRESSION FASHION

DARK MAGIC

DESTRUCTION/POWER PRANKS

TOPIC FLUENCY THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES

RENEWAL

INVESTIGATION

PARANORMAL FASCINATION

GREEN

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

DRINKING PARTY

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RELIGION

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES

MEMORIAL GENEALOGY

FAMOUS DEAD

TERRITORY/OWNERSHIP

KEY FINDINGS

Forbidden Fun

›› The Key Findings were derived from the model. Origins are matched by colored dots.

Local Partnerships

Cemeteries can engage with local businesses through partnerships and events to attract tourists.

Record Keeping Together

Cemeteries can connect with other cemeteries and competing services to integrate records databases.

Is Green Green?

Traditional cemeteries deceptively appear to be green but need to adopt sustainable practices to become truly green.

Redefine “Beauty”

Cemeteries can reconsider what is “beautiful” in terms of the green movement in order to remain competitive as a park space.

Cemeteries can innovate by capitalizing on previously forbidden activities.

Nearness from Afar

Cemeteries can enhance the ceremony of burial to increase the feeling of nearness for long distance mourners.

Morbid Fascination

Cemeteries can capitalize on the morbid fascination of dark tourists by integrating their interests into the activities and services of the cemetery.

Night Life

There is opportunity for cemeteries to expand activities to include entertainment and nightlife.

Individual Internment

Cemeteries can address and embrace individuality through their internment services.

Storytelling & Perception

Cemeteries can story telling in popular culture to influence thier public perception.

TOPIC FLUENCY THE WHAT AND WHY OF CEMETERIES

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SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

After understanding cemeteries as an ecosystem holistically in the previous model, we wanted to deep dive into the business landscape and understand how that system works. With the shift in trends around the culture of cemeteries and burial practices a lot of old business were shut down and new business opened.

Hence, it was all the more important for us to understand the competitors and complementors of cemeteries to get a top view of the industry offering.

Mapping this method helped us understand the role of cemeteries in terms of business and revenue. We recognized gaps and opportunities to capitalize on cemeteries as a business while offering the users a better experience. We determined key findings that opened a wide array of business opportunities for cemeteries to complement and push away competition.

TOPIC FLUENCY SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

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SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES: PROCESS

›› We started with listing down the competitors in the cemetery business, from giants to small end. After that we started identifying complementors who enhance and assist cemeteries to function systematically. We then started establishing dimensions for comparison on a 2x2 matrix based on the competitors and complementors.

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TOPIC FLUENCY SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

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SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES: PROCESS

›› Most of the entries on our list were skewed more towards tourism and body disposition methods and nature and technology. Hence after struggling for a while, we finally used internment services vs. tourism and nature vs. technology as the dimensions.

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TOPIC FLUENCY SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

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SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES: PROCESS

›› The final step in the process was to dig micro key findings that gave a holistic understanding of the gaps and opportunities in the cemetery business acumen.

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TOPIC FLUENCY SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

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SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES: DATA

TOURISM FIND A GRAVE

COMPLEMENTORS HISTORICAL TOURS

COMPETITORS BIRD WATCHING CLUBS

NATURE TOURS

GHOST TOURS

HISTORY MUSEUMS

ART EXHIBITIONS

LOCAL LIBRARIES

FAMOUS TOMBS

ARTISANS LANDSCAPERS

VIRTUAL MEMORIALS INTERACTIVE HEDSTONES

MARKER MANUFACTURER

NATURE

DIGITAL GRAVEYARDS

TECHNOLOGY

CEMETERIES ETERNI.ME

CHURCHES FLORISTS

IT SERVICES

ENGINEERS RAW SUPPLIERS SPECIALTY VEHICLE DEALERS INSURERS

TREE POD BURIAL

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COMPOST BASED RENEWAL

TOPIC FLUENCY SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

ETERNAL REEFS NATURAL BURIAL

BIOCREMATION CREMATION

INTERNMENT SERVICES

DONATING TO SCIENCE FUNERAL HOMES

CASKET MANUFACTURERS

SKYSCRAPER CEMETERY CRYONICS MUMMIFICATION SPACE BURIAL

KEY FINDINGS

Cemeteries at the Center

›› The Key Findings were derived from the model. Origins are matched by colored dots.

Saturated Market

The internment service market is saturated so competitors have to create unique options to attract customers.

The function of cemeteries lies between nature and tech, and internment and tourism.

Technological Tourism

There is opportunity for the development of complimenting industries to cemeteries in the realms of tourism and technology.

Emerging Tech

There is an opportunity for cemteries to utilize emerging technology to interest a younger generation of tourists.

An Unusual Opportunity

The complimenting industries surrounding cemeteries are currently very conventional, there is room for unusual offerings.

TOPIC FLUENCY SATURATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

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DISCOVERING CEMETERIES

After conducting extensive secondary research, mapping four different models, and digging key findings for each one we started looking for macro key findings. We compared, contrasted and clustered our micro key findings from each models. After finding patterns and analyzing each key finding deeply, we derived five macro key findings to conclude this phase of the project.

This initial phase of the project was fundamental to develop fluency in the topic before moving on to high-level contextual research methods. The exercise not only helped us in gaining knowledge but also developed our skills to digest dense data, pull out relevant information and organize it in a user friendly way.

TOPIC FLUENCY DISCOVERING CEMETERIES

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DISCOVERING CEMETERIES: FINDINGS

›› After looking at the key findings from our four secondary research model we derived five macro key findings that encompassed those micro key findings.

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TOPIC FLUENCY DISCOVERING CEMETERIES

MACRO KEY FINDINGS

Experience

››

The experience of cemeteries is becoming more personalized and relationship-based.

The Key Findings were derived from the model. Origins are matched by the symbols.

Image-Building

Cemeteries should orient their activities, offerings experience, and collateral to revitalize their image.

Subcultures

Opportunity lies in tapping the subcultures that surround cemeteries.

Technology

Cemeteries are incorporating emerging technology to compete in an evolving industry.

Natural and Green

Sustainability must be a core consideration of cemeteries in the future.

TOPIC FLUENCY DISCOVERING CEMETERIES

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SOURCES

We read many articles and blogs to gather information during our secondary research phase. Every source was used to inform our Conversations Around Cemeteries model, and from there used to create the Form, Disposition & Experience model, the What and Why of Cemeteries model, and finally the Saturations & Opportunities model.

TOPIC FLUENCY SOURCES

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SOURCES

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TOPIC FLUENCY SOURCES

TOPIC FLUENCY SOURCES

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PLANS

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The second step of the project was to come up with a research plan that will map out the different steps for the research project in detail. The aim of this plan was to keep on track and updated with the scope, nature and time constraints of the project. Using the AEIOU framework, we developed macro questions and created micro questions related to the scope of the project. These questions were based on secondary research but they informed the primary research that is followed in the next few chapters.

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RESEARCH PLAN

Before going out in the field to observe and interview, we formulated a research plan encapsulating the places we will visit, the people we will interview to collect information and understand the culture of Savannah in depth. We identified tools that were required to gather information as we step out in the field. Using the AEIOU framework, we developed macro questions and created micro questions related to the scope of the project. These questions were based on secondary research but they informed the primary research that is followed in the next few chapters.

PLANS RESEARCH PLAN

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RESEARCH PLAN

›› We created tools defining frameworks and methods that can help us in collecting data. We used AEIOU (activities, environments, interactions, objects and users) to get a holistic understanding of the cemetery. We created an artifacts template, a user journey template and expected and unexpected activities. Using fly in the wall and shadowing techniques to observe and gathered data to get acquainted with the culture surrounding cemeteries more.

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PLANS RESEARCH PLAN

RESEARCH PLAN

What do we

Why do we need

What kind of data

Where can we

What research

Who can we

How will we

need to do?

to know this?

will answer this

find the data?

methods should

contact for

share with

we use?

access?

clients?

question?

What do people do?

What events occur?

What rituals?

What events do people desire?

How do events benefit or hurt the cemetery?

To understand how cemeteries can and do engage people and groups.

Literature • Anecdotes Quotes • Field Notes Photographs Videos Audio • Spatial Maps Digital Posts • Local News

Cemeteries Internet Welcome Center Tour companies Savannah Police Dept.

Self reporting Observation Field visit Interviews Secondary research

Cemetery administration Event coordinators Savannah Police Dept.

Users

Activity Network

Are they sustainable?

What influence do they have on the environment?

How do they effect city planning?

How do they effect business in proximity?

To discover how cemeteries effect their surrounding environment.

Quotes • Anecdotes Spatial Maps • Local News • Secondary Research

Cemeteries Environmental groups Savannah CPD Neighboring businesses

Interviews Secondary research

Chamber of Commerce Environmental Forum Cemetery administration EPA Local business owners

Insight Sorting

What is the impact of the cemeteries on the environment?

What do people say to one and other?

What do people do with one and other?

How do people behave?

What subcultures surround the cemeteries?

To understand how people engage with each other and use cemeteries socially.

Field Notes Photographs • Videos Audio • Quotes Anecdotes • Spatial Maps Digital Posts

Cemeteries Internet Savannah Police Dept.

Self reporting Observation Interviews

Savannah Police Dept.

Cemetery administration Users

Interaction Activity

What interactions occur in and around the cemeteries?

What artifacts are present in and around cemetery culture?

What do people bring to cemeteries?

What artifacts already exist in cemeteries?

How do people interact with artifacts?

What do people take?

To understand the physical presence of cemeteries and how users alter it.

Photographs • Field Notes • Anecdotes

Cemeteries Gift shops Museums Internet Local vendors

Observation Field visit Interviews

Cemetery administration Museum administration Vendors Users

Photo Map

To understand the people who use cemeteries, and how cemeteries can and do address their needs.

Field Notes • Videos Secondary Research Photographs • Audio Anecdotes • Digital Posts Quotes

Cemeteries Internet Savannah Police Dept.

Self reporting Observation Field visit Interviews Secondary research

Cemetery administration Users Savannah Police Dept.

Semantic Profiles

Who are the users of the cemeteries?

Who goes?

Why do they go?

How often?

Which cemeteries do they go to most?

Why are those cemeteries popular?

Who supports cemeteries?

Who competes?

How do cemeteries support the community?

What are the advantages or disadvantages of cemeteries?

To understand how cemeteries fit into the greater community.

Quotes • Audio • Spatial Maps • Anecdotes Literature • Secondary Research

Cemeteries Local businesses Chamber of Commerce Savannah CPD

Self reporting Interviews Secondary research

Vendors Cemetery administration Competitors

Descriptive Value Web

Who are the stakeholders of the cemeteries?

What causes cemeteries to change?

How do they change?

Who implements change?

Which cemeteries change first? Last?

To understand and predict the change patterns of cemeteries.

Quotes • Spatial Maps Audio • Secondary Research • Photographs

Cemeteries Internet Library Savannah CPD Elderly locals

Interviews Secondary research Self reporting

Elderly locals Historians Cemetery administration Savannah CPD

From... To Exploration

How and why do the cemeteries evolve?

What activities surround the cemeteries?

Compelling Experience Map

Insight Matrix

Video

Entities Position Map

User Group Definition User Journey Map

PLANS RESEARCH PLAN

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OBSERVATION PLAN

Observation was the first tool that we used to conduct primary research. The objective was to visit the cemeteries in Savannah and observe Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects and Users. We visited a total of 7 cemeteries in Savannah and wrote data points for each of the above-mentioned framework. The real challenged for us was to organize the dense data we had collected in the form of pictures, notes, videos, and sketches in as a whole.

After giving a lot of thought, we decided to create a war wall that would be in the form of a model based on the cemeteries visited and data collected for each of the AEIOU framework category.

We started organizing the data putting a map of savannah in the center and the map of cemeteries visited on the sides. Then we organized all the data points from observations around those maps turning the war wall into a big model representing activities, interaction and artifacts.

PLAN OBSERVATION PLAN

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OBSERVATION PLAN

›› We visited 7 cemeteries and placed their floor plans on the center of the wall. We connected the cemeteries to a map of savannah to give their location. We then started placing our observation data points pertaining to the cemetery around the plan. We repeated this exercise for all our observations collected form all cemeteries. The final wall war an enormous model showcasing the objects, interactions and activities occurring in and around cemeteries in Savannah.

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PLAN OBSERVATION PLAN

Bonaventure

Greenwich

Forest Lawn

Laurel Grove North

Laurel Grove South

Hillcrest Abbey

Catholic

We hope that this data will help us answer some of our micro research questions and help us to develop new questions to further our primary research into the culture of cemeteries in Savannah.

4/16/2015

Fatima, Shannon, Jay, Terry

Gulfstream

4/17/2015

Shannon

Colonial Park

Fatima, Shannon

Hillcrest Abbey, Catholic, Bonaventure, Forest Lawn, Greenwich

Jay, Terry

Colonial Park

Fatima, Shannon

Laurel Grove North, Laurel Grove South, Bonaventure, Forest Lawn, Greenwich

Fatima, Shannon, Jay, Terry

Bonaventure, Laurel Grove North, Laurel Grove South

SC H

ED U

LE :

PE

:

O

B

C

TI

V JE

At all of these cemeteries, we hope to gather photographs and video, and more specifically, data about activity around the cemetery, the artifacts in the cemetery, and the interactions that occur in the cemetery. At Colonial Park, we will also shadow people as they use the cemetery.

SC O

ES :

LO

C

AT I

O

N

S:

OBSERVATION PLAN

4/18/2015

4/19/2015

PLAN OBSERVATION PLAN

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OBSERVATION TEMPLATES

We built a variety of templates for use while observing. We found that observation is hard to anticipate, but a template can help to direct what you’re looking for in the field.

PLAN OBSERVATION TEMPLATES

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OBSERVATION TEMPLATES

›› We created field note templates to help us organize what we were looking for during observation. The field notes were late transcribed as data points.

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PLAN OBSERVATION TEMPLATES

This basic AEIOU template allowed us to gather well-rounded information quickly. It covered all of our bases.

We observed artifacts using this template that casts them into three categories: brought, existing, or taken.

This template cast activities into two categories: expected and unexpected. It allowed a little analysis while observing.

Our user journey template was not used much because we took photos. It is better used as a second step in journey mapping.

PLAN OBSERVATION TEMPLATES

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FLY & SHADOW

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Observation was the first tool that we used to conduct primary research. The objective was to visit the cemeteries in Savannah and observe Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects and Users. We visited a total of 8 cemeteries in Savannah and wrote data points for each of the above-mentioned framework. The real challenged for us was to organize the dense data we had collected in the form of pictures, notes, videos, and sketches in as a whole. After giving a lot of thought, we decided to create a war wall that would be in the form of a model based on the cemeteries visited and data collected for each of the AEIOU framework category. We started organizing the data putting a map of savannah in the center and the map of cemeteries visited on the sides. Then we organized all the data points from observations around those maps turning the war wall into a big model representing activities, interaction and artifacts.

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OBSERVATION WORKING WALL

We visited 8 cemeteries and placed their floor plans on the center of the wall. We connected the cemeteries to a map of savannah to give their location. We then started placing our observation data points pertaining to the cemetery around the plan. We repeated this exercise for all our observations collected form all cemeteries. The final wall war an enormous model showcasing the objects, interactions and activities occurring in and around cemeteries in Savannah.

FLY & SHADOW WORKING WALL PROCESS

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OBSERVATION WORKING WALL PROCESS

›› We built a wall of data from our observations to better understand where the densities were. Interactions and activities were scarce at lesser known cemeteries.

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FLY & SHADOW WORKING WALL PROCESS

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USER JOURNEYS

Using the shadowing method, we mapped twelve user journeys to understand the customer behavior. We wanted to understand what motivates and triggers a user to visit a cemetery. So we went out in the field and observed users from different perspectives. We noted down their interaction with people, their behavior in the cemetery, their activities. It gave us a good understanding of legal and illegal activities occurring in cemeteries. The time a user is spending in cemeteries. The engagement and interactions they are participating in.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› The user walked through the Colonial Park Cemetery using it as a thoroughfare. They walked through it to cut the street corner and continue on their way.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› The three women walk on the pathway while walking. They keep walking without checking the cemetery and exit.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› The users are walking while checking out epitaphs and graves periodically. Their tour was brief and they exit through the rear entrance.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› The user stood at the entrance of the cemetery, took pictures and then left without going inside.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› A couple walks in the cemetery and checks out an epitaph. They keep walking following the pathway and exit using the cemetery as a shortcut.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› Two women enter the cemetery and check out graves stopping for moments to inspect the ones directly off the path.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› Two men trespass through the cemetery entering from one point and exiting through the other. An hour later they enter the cemetery and exit through the earlier entry point using the cemetery as a shortcut.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› Users enter the cemetery, walk around checking grave and epitaphs and make the exit.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› A couple entered the cemetery and checked out several graves before exiting. The woman led the way while the man lingered.

They stayed on the path.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› A young man and women enter the cemetery and use it as a backdrop for a photo-shoot. They stop by different graves taking pictures before they exit.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› A women enters the cemetery with her unleashed dog. The dog runs around before they exit.

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USER JOURNEYS

›› Two old men enter the cemetery and walk along the path before exiting from the rear point.

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APPRENTICESHIP

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We delved into primary research after getting acquainted with secondary research and the current happenings around cemeteries in the world. The objective of this phase of the project was to zoom in and get out in the field to ask the cemeteries users and experts about their view on the culture of cemeteries in Savannah. We wanted to gather data that captured views from varied people in order to generate insights that will help reculture the culture of cemeteries and help cemetery enthusiasts capitalize on the generated ideas. The first step was to identify the user group. We used a 2x2 matrix to map the characteristics and cemetery users that was informed by our secondary research and observations. We chalked out a comprehensive plan for interviews and then went out in the field and spoke to different professionals and users to understand their view point.

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APPERENTICESHIP USER DEFINITIONS

USER DEFINITION MATRIX

We mapped a 2x2 matrix to define our user group after spending days in the field to know the different types of users. We defined the matrix dimensions as personal vs. professional and nature vs. culture. We mapped the users based on the attributes and listed them down, informed by observation and secondary research, on this matrix. It gave us a perspective to choose people to interview that are most relevant to our research topic as we moved on to the interview phase. After mapping the users we had to name each quadrant in accordance to the matrix dimensions and re-plot the users where they fit the most. We then defined the Z-axis; alien vs. native to look for clusters within clusters and quadrants to further refine the filtration process.

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USER DEFINITION MATRIX PROCESS

›› The 2x2 matrix allowed us to define 4 types of user categories.

The experience fulfillers: People who love to experience and explore. The groundskeeper: People who are responsible for maintaining the cemeteries. The scenery lover: People who want peace, solitude and are close to nature. The official hosts: People who are responsible to manage and hold the cemeteries together.

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USER DEFINITION MATRIX

›› Our final user definition matrix showed us which people we should try to interview. We found that most of our information would come from The Official Hosts, and The Groundskeepers.

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APPERENTICESHIP USER DEFINITION MATRIX

NATURE

THE LANDSCAPER

THE NATURE LOVER

THE CONTRACTOR

THE PURPOSEFUL WALKER

RELATIONSHIP TO COMMUNITY NATIVE ALIEN

THE PICNICER THE GRAVE DIGGER THE CYCLIST

THE STROLLER

THE MONUMENT MAN

THE DOGWALKER

THE MAINTENANCE MAN

THE JOGGER

THE SCENERY LOVERS

PERSONAL THE TAPHOPHILE

THE EXPERIENCE FULFILLERS

THE GROUNDSKEEPERS THE OFFICIAL HOSTS THE STORYTELLER

THE PHOTOGRAPHER THE ARTIST THE STUDENT THE DRINKER

PROFESSIONAL

THE HISTORY BUFF

THE ADMINISTRATOR

THE CELEB SEEKER

THE HEARSE DRIVER THE FUNERAL COORDINATOR

THE WALKING TOURIST

THE FUNERAL CONDUCTOR

THE CYCLING TOURIST THE TOUR BUS TOURIST THE LONER

THE MOURNER THE EPITAPH COLLECTOR

THE DRIVING TOURIST THE GHOST TOURIST

THE GHOST HUNTER

CULTURE

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APPERENTICESHIP INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

We interviewed a total of eight people belonging to different segments in our 2x2 matrix. The objective of the interviews was to gather a varied set of data that will strengthen our research, expand our knowledge about the topic and aid in reaching compelling insights. We conducted in depth exploratory interviews questioning and probing them to share their cemetery knowledge with us. Card sorting activity was used as a way to break the ice and probe them to share more stories that can be helpful for our project.

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INTERVIEW

›› Cemetery Administrator RIchard Gerbasi plans, coordinates, and manages all the public cemeteries in Savannah. He began his career in cemeteries as a conservation technician.

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INTERVIEW

›› Historical Tour Guide Tim Rowell is a 6th generation Savannahian and the owner and operator of the Dash tour company in Savannah. He holds a membership in the Bonaventure Historical Society and volunteer’s time towards the cemetery’s education and preservation efforts.

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INTERVIEW

›› Chairman, Bonaventure Historical Society Mr. Lee Maltenfort is the chairman of Bonaventure Historical Society. The Society offers tours and literature to visitors. They also preserve abandoned plots in the cemetery.

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INTERVIEW

›› Conservation Supervisor Sam Beetler is conservation technician for the Department of Cemeteries, City of Savannah. He performs conservation techniques on objects throughout five cemeteries owned by the city of Savannah. This includes the conservation of box tombs, headstones, tablets, cribbing and coping, mausoleums, ornamental ironwork, masonry repointing and repair.

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INTERVIEW

›› SCAD Historic Preservation Professor Dr. Timothy Taylor is an architectural conservator and a historic preservation professor at Savannah College of art and Design.

He teaches the Conservation of Cemeteries class in which the students document and preserve local cemeteries.

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INTERVIEW

›› Funeral Director Dave Cronise has been with Fox & Weeks Funeral Home for over 10 years and has been instrumental in the development and growth of the services offered by Fox & Weeks.

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INTERVIEW

›› Dark Tour Guide Shannon Scott is a storyteller, an entertainer historian, author, and artist living in Savannah, Georgia who also owns Bonaventure Tour Company. He specializes in the macabre.

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INTERVIEW

›› Owner, Oglethorpe Marble & Granite Co. Danny Mobley owns and operates Oglethorpe Marble and Granite Company supplying and maintaining monuments around Savannah for over 100 years.

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INTERVIEW

›› Maintenance Supervisor Michelle Dailey manages the maintenance crews at the public cemeteries in Savannah. She is responsible for the landscaping and preservation of the natural environment of the cemetery.

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INTERVIEW

›› Security, CPC Bridget Brunson is responsible for the security at Colonial Park Cemetery.She ensures that people are abiding by the cemetery rules and regulations in the afternoons and evenings.

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APPERENTICESHIP INTERVIEW TOOLS

INTERVIEW TOOLS

We created a set of tools before we set out to interview. The objective was to plan ahead and be consistent with the interview outcomes. We created a rough interview script with questions that we needed to answers. We formulated guidelines that each team member had to follow. These guidelines also had prompts and probes mentioned to utilize in case there was lull moment.

A card sorting activity was designing to make the interviewees comfortable and be more open and interactive as we asked them questions.

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INTERVIEW TOOLS: CARD DECK

›› The card deck was created to engage the interviewees by asking them to pick cards that they associate with most. We found that the cards helped get them talking and then stay on topic.

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AFFINITIZING

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After collecting data from different sources, the final task for us was to give the data a structure and understand cemeteries holistically. We used the affinity diagramming method to externalize and meaningfully cluster our secondary research, observations and interview data points. The affinity diagram holistically clustered our data into singular data points. Taking a bottom up approach, first we analyzed all the data collected from the interviews and compiled yellow notes that represented single observations. We then clustered the yellows by focusing on the deeper message rather than the keywords. After clustering yellows we went on analyzing the issue revealed and formed blues. The blues clustered all the yellows and summarized the data into a holistic but single key finding. The blues led us to pinks that further specified the issues and areas of concern. The greens were formed in the end describing the overarching idea.

From a plethora of data points we moved to singular ideas that consolidated our 10-week research project. We understood the culture of cemeteries in Savannah holistically and were equipped to set on the final task of pulling insights.

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY: YELLOW

AFFINITY: YELLOW

The building block of the research was the yellows. Cemeteries were described in depth by all the interviewees and were validated through the observation data points and public media search. We examined every single observation from the data chunk and started reading the deeper meanings and placed them on the wall. We repeated the process and started clustering observation following the same pattern or holding the same meaning.

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AFFINITY: YELLOW PROCESS

›› We gathered all of our data and began to group it on the wall according to the deeper meaning of the quotes, or observation.

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY YELLOW

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY BLUE

AFFINITY: BLUE

After clustering all the yellows on the wall, we started labeling blues. The blues exemplified the underlying issue and message that a yellow cluster represented. We had to break down some of the yellow clusters into different blues because they represented more than one underlying issue that was of importance and needed separate attention.

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AFFINITY: BLUE PROCESS

›› We labeled our groups of yellow with blue post it notes that described the deep meaning of the whole group. We also used our key findings from our secondary research models as blues.

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY BLUE

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY PINK

AFFINITY: PINK

The blues were clustered together to create larger themes. This cluster was the pink cluster and represented the thought of all the blues in a singular sentence. The objective was to simplify and externalize the large amount of data into smaller chunks so that you didn’t have to skim through all the data to dig insights. The pinks represented the overarching themes describing the blues and pinks elaborately.

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AFFINITY: PINK PROCESS

›› We grouped our blues get more macro pink groups. These groups became the foundations of our insights.

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY PINK

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY: GREEN

AFFINITY: GREEN

The green labels grouped all the pinks together to form a coherent piece of story that housed the pinks, blues and yellows.

They represented stories that were of crucial importance to cemeteries. They highlighted all the aspects that needed attention when digging insights.

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AFFINITY: GREEN PROCESS

›› Grouping the pinks into greens was the last step. The greens are categorical and give us a big picture of what all we covered in our research: Appeal, User Experience, Relationships, Economics, Significance, Maintaining Beauty, Evolution, and Priorities

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AFFINITIZING AFFINITY GREEN

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INSIGHTS

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After affinitizing all of our data we were able to draw deep insights that can inform the future of the cemeteries. By gaining a deep understanding of the material, our insights and concepts have the potential for implementation and success.

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INSIGHTS VALUE FRAMEWORKS

VALUE FRAMEWORKS

After the 10 week’s extensive research and affinitizing all the data, we went ahead in designing key frameworks that represent the culture of cemeteries. We defined the framework through three lenses - the users that hold the most importance to cemeteries.

The first perspective was of the dead for whom the cemetery was designed. The second was from the cemetery owner’s perspectives that are the custodians of cemeteries. The third one was from the users perspective that visits cemeteries for leisure or mourning. The framework had core values and surrounding the core values were drivers. Each driver has support values supporting the core and enablers that brought these values to life. The next few pages explain the three frameworks in detail.

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WHAT DRIVES THE CEMETERIES

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INSIGHTS VALUE FRAMEWORKS

WHAT DRIVES THE CEMETERIES The framework to the left illustrates the values of

and their passion for history and preservation. They

those who work on behalf of the historic cemeteries

seek to maintain the cemeteries connection to history

in Savannah, hereafter referred to as the cemeteries.

by restoring the environment, as well as move the

Surviving in a shifting cultural and physical landscape

cemeteries into the future by educating the public.

is the core concern that drives the cemeteries and is represented in the center of the framework. The

The cemeteries in Savannah are adapting to changing

cemeteries fight a number of battles against their core

disposition practices and usage of their spaces. Though

functions and permanence on a daily basis.

their first commitment is to the deceased and their family, they understand that policies and activities must

Surrounding the core are the three means by which

evolve after the sites are sold out and burials cease.

the cemeteries fight for their survival. They are

After even the creative solutions to make space are

preserving, recruiting, and adapting to stay relevant

exhausted, the cemeteries must still provide care for

and functioning. The cemeteries seek to preserve not

the dead and generate revenue for that purpose by

only the burials of the interred, but also the historical

capitalizing on tourism or other business ideas. The

structures and flora, and the stories of the deceased

cemeteries have changed and will continue to change

and the site itself. The cemeteries serve the interred

in concert with the culture of Savannah and shifting

first, the families of the interred second, and the visitors

beliefs about death and burial.

third. The dead and their families are served through the arrangement, protection, and maintenance of their

Underlying the model are the factors that enable the

burial sites. Visitors also benefit from the preservation

survival of the cemeteries. Technology, money, time,

of the sites and their stories. The preservation of the

and skills all contribute to the means that surround

cemeteries is tied in to the purpose of their existence.

the core concern of the cemeteries as shown in

The deceased hoped and paid to be cared for forever

the framework. The cemeteries are seeking to use

and the cemeteries struggle to live up to that promise.

technology to catalogue the history and stories of the cemetery as well as maintain the timeworn structures

The cemeteries manage preservation and other

and sites. They need more funds to secure the future

functions by recruiting employees with diverse

of the cemeteries through this preservation and

skill sets, and partnerships with local non-profit

record-keeping. All of these activities undertaken to

organizations and universities. These partnerships

run and maintain the cemetery require the time of their

provide the cemetery with free, and often skilled, help

staff and volunteers. And those staff and volunteers

as well as additional revenue through donations. These

must have a diverse set of skills to perform the ever-

volunteers and employees feel called to their work in

changing tasks the cemeteries require to function,

the cemeteries through their personal connections

revive, and thrive.

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WHAT DRIVES THE DECEASED

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INSIGHTS VALUE FRAMEWORKS

WHAT DRIVES THE DECEASED The framework to left exemplifies the motives of the deceased and their loved ones for choosing traditional burial. Hereafter, the deceased and their loved ones will be referred to simply as the deceased. The deceased choose to be buried in marked graves in well-documented, and well-known cemeteries because they wish to be immortalized. This core desire lies in the center of the framework. Their hopes of what will happen around and because of their grave site.

The deceased in cemeteries hope to be cared for and protected forever. They hope that their grave sites will be sacred. The deceased pay and trust the cemeteries for the promise of perpetuity and the cemeteries are obligated to ensure that the sites are preserved and treated with respect. The cemeteries first duty is to the deceased, then the family of the deceased, and then visitors. Cemeteries fight not to lose sight of the true purpose of the cemetery: to eternally care for the dead.

The key drivers surrounding the core are remembrance, connection, and protection.

The deceased hope that their grave site will ensure that they are remembered so that future generations can know them in some small way. Monuments, markers, and other artifacts around grave sites reflect the person they mark.

Epitaphs, symbols, and objects left by visitors are personal remnants left for future visitors to decipher and learn from.

Underlying the model are the factors that enable the immortalization of the deceased. A great amount of time, money, technology, and skill are necessary for the preservation of the sites.

A cemeteries main functions are new burials and preservation. Relationships make grave sites worthwhile. Visitors have a physical place to go to connect with the deceased. And lastly, cemeteries are built on tradition. Burial is without question the way that disposition is managed for many people.

The deceased also hope that their grave sites will allow them to connect with both people and the location. They hope that their grave will connect them with the future, but also with the past.

Many people are buried with past generations and are reunited in death spiritually, and physically. The deceased also feel a connection to the place where they are buried. It is where they have lived, their family has lived, where they were born, where they feel most at home.

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WHAT DRIVES THE VISITORS

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INSIGHTS VALUE FRAMEWORKS

WHAT DRIVES THE VISITORS The framework to the left shows the value of cemeteries to their visitors. The cemeteries are a part of life in Savannah and they reflect the culture of the city surrounding them. As such, the role of the cemeteries has shifted over time. Visitors go to the cemeteries to engage, and this is the core of the framework. Surrounding the core, are the three drivers that represent the ways that visitors wish to engage with the cemeteries. They go to connect, admire, and learn.

Visitors go to the cemeteries to connect with the dead, with nature, and with their own ideas about mortality. They memorialize their loved ones and those they admire by visiting their graves.

The graves become avatars, representing the life and personality of the deceased. The cemeteries remind visitors of the inevitability of death and the preciousness of life. These sites also become places to connect with nature. They are protected, peaceful, green spaces where nature, architecture, and identity merge.

Cemeteries in Savannah are also significant as educational tools. Visitors travel to learn from these places that are so rich in history. The people preserved there lived through and participated in the founding of the United States, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and many other historical events in American history. Much can be learned about the past by the artifacts left behind and preserved in cemeteries.

Underlying the model are the factors that enable visitors to engage with cemeteries. Visitors must take time out of their lives to explore the cemeteries. Cemeteries seek to use technology to help visitors to engage with the cemeteries and their histories. And the tourism industry helps address the demand for services that give visitors an experience in the cemeteries.

The nature and architecture that are enclosed in the cemeteries also make them places of admiration.

Visitors without connection to those buried in the cemetery often come to admire the beauty of the sites. They treat them as parks rather then as places for the dead. As our ideas about death and burial have evolved, so has the usage and significance of the cemeteries.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: FRENEMIES

People are responsible for both the protection and destruction of the cemeteries.

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FRENEMIES: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is an opportunity for people to retract their own footprint on the cemetery.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we create a system of exchange between visitors and the cemeteries?

How might we create awareness around the impact of people on the cemeteries?

How might we engage the community in the preservation of the cemeteries?

How might we create a sense of guardianship among visitors and Savannah residents?

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: FRENEMIES

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FRENEMIES: SUPPORT

When you’re only thinking about tourism, the more people that come in the cemetery and the more people that are interacting with and using it, the more things change. The roadways and paths change. People like to touch things.

To me, a cemetery always starts with good intentions. How you deal with them 200 years later, that’s a whole other thing... I think it’s almost a fantasy if you expect them to survive a thousand years.

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I couldn’t imagine, if our gates were open 24 hours, how much vandalism, or how much theft, or just hoodlums we’d have to content with if that was the case.

So my job as a conservator is to extend [the cemeteries] service life for as long as possible for future generations.

We definitely don’t like people climbing our fences because a lot of them do have bad intentions to come in and destroy things.

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FRENEMIES: CONCEPTS

An exchange program. Visitors get to walk through the cemetery and other perks if they contribute to it’s conservation. For example, trash pick up.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: FRENEMIES

A lesson plan for Savannah classrooms. The cemetery could create lesson plans about cemetery history for teacher’s to use in local schools. The children would learn about the historical people and events in Savannah’s history.

A photography book. The cemetery could create a coffee table photography book collected from the photographers that come through the cemetery. Profits could fund conservation.

A picnic in the cemetery. A mass picnic could be held in which locals would come, eat, and engage in simple preservation activities under the supervision of the Historical Society.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: OLD IS GOLD

The cemeteries strive to restore and preserve all historical aspects of their sites.

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OLD IS GOLD: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is opportunity for cemeteries to revere the past while remaining of the moment.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we create a platform for old and new to encourage a perpetual dialogue?

How might we celebrate the past in a contemporary way?

How might we engage future generations to use the cemetery to learn from the past?

How might we combat extinction?

How might we use tech meaningfully as a way to depict and communicate with the past?

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OLD IS GOLD: SUPPORT

Savannah is filled with people that were in the Civil War. If we put up a historical marker for everyone that was in the Civil War, we’d have a lot of historical markers.

My opinion is that everybody in our cemetery is important to us. And everybody is equally if not more important to somebody else.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: OLD IS GOLD

If you have all these things to do the projects, to me, you’re going to do what’s more culturally significant.

They have been taught just how to use the chemicals so when they wipe away it’s clean, but it still looks like it’s been here for years.

We have a master gardener who is an expert at air-grafting camellias and azaleas.

And he does it from 150 year-old plants.

So the plants we have going in now are contemporary to the start of this place.

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OLD IS GOLD: CONCEPTS

A takeaway for visitors. They can take it as they walk through the cemetery and write down their favorite epitaph or write their own epitaph if they are inspired.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: OLD IS GOLD

A design your own funeral quiz. Visitors take the quiz and determine how their own funeral and grave site should be to reflect their personality and life.

A design your own funeral quiz. Visitors take the quiz and determine how their own funeral and grave site should be to reflect their personality and life.

A cemetery scavenger hunt app. If you allow the app access to your Facebook, it will suggest who to go see in the cemetery according to your interests.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: MERE MORTALS

Cemeteries provide a place for people to understand and build a relationship with death and the deceased.

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MERE MORTALS: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is an opportunity for cemeteries to strengthen the relationship between visitors and the deceased.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we create a platform for communication between the living and the dead?

How might we tell the stories of the dead?

How might we infuse technology into the traditional cemetery to relay the identities of the deceased?

How might we introduce the living to deceased strangers?

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: MERE MORTALS

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MERE MORTALS: SUPPORT

Even after you’re dead and buried in the ground stuff happens.

When you visit someone’s grave, it’s like visiting a relative; there is closeness.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: MERE MORTALS

Bringing cemeteries into cities rather than pushing them out is a question of updating our relationships with death, not of space constraints.

Cemeteries are like church for me... It’s a reminder that life is precious.

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MERE MORTALS: CONCEPTS

An app for meeting the dead. This app would introduce you to the deceased in the cemetery.

Guiding you to their plots and telling you their stories.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: MERE MORTALS

A Facebook cemetery. An online portal that allows its visitors to remember, mourn, and exchange stories about the deceased. It would be an online tool for documenting the cemetery’s residents.

An app for facts about the cemetery. As you walk by a significant grave site, the app will send you a notification about the person, family, or plot.

A wall of remembrance. This wall would be a place for visitors to leave prayers and notes to the deceased. It would be a collective memorial site.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: LESS IS... LESS

Public cemeteries suffer from a lack of fiscal and human resources which makes them unsustainable.

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LESS IS... LESS: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is opportunity for cemeteries to restructure to support the future.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we generate revenue while respecting the dead?

How might we get the community to invest time and resources in the cemeteries?

How might we partner with local businesses to exchange resources?

How might we reevaluate the policies surrounding public cemeteries?

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LESS IS... LESS: SUPPORT

We do accept donations... We believe in Blanch Dubois’ philosophy of life and we depend on the kindness of strangers.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: LESS IS... LESS

The city needs as much as it can get.

They just can’t afford the upkeep.

It’s challenging as government. If it’s a private cemetery they can pretty much do whatever they want, but we don’t have that authority.

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LESS IS... LESS: CONCEPTS

An adopt-a-plot program. Locals can apply to adopt an abandoned plot and take over it’s care.

They would work with the Historical Society and become a community of caretakers.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: LESS IS... LESS

A partnership with local businesses. Local businesses could sell cemetery-themed collectibles and products. For example, a Leopold’s Ice Cream in “Cosmos Mariner” flavor where 10% of the proceeds goes to the cemetery.

A collaboration with local schools. Cemeteries could use their local schools as a resource. They could partner with them in fund-raising efforts and history lessons.

A memorial tile pathway. The cemetery could pave it’s pathways with memorial tiles purchased by mourners who did not choose burial.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP People are inspired by the unique beauty and significance of cemeteries and try to capture it.

INSIGHTS INSIGHT: BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP

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BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is opportunity for cemeteries to become places of art and expression.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we create a community around art in cemeteries?

How might we change people’s perceptions of cemeteries through beauty and art?

How might we get people involved in the preservation of beautiful sites?

How might we create opportunities for people to make art in cemeteries?

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BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP: SUPPORT

We do get some movie companies and magazines or students that come out here. Anybody interested that wants to take pictures.

Tourists are photographing out here and it’s a beautiful place to shoot.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP

People like to do a lot of filming. They do a lot of background shots for films.

We’ll get some that are soon-to-be brides and they’ll come out here and want to take photos.

A couple of days ago, a woman wore a black outfit with a little umbrella like she was from the 1880’s.

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BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP: CONCEPTS

A website detailing the sculpture and architecture in the cemetery. This web presence could become a resource for art and architecture students among others.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP

An auction of art created in the cemetery. Collect copies or originals of the art that is created in the cemetery and auction it to support conservation.

An exhibition in the cemetery. Use the cemetery space to show artist’s work and draw attention to the art in the cemetery and art created there.

An art class taught in the cemetery. The cemetery offers sketching and painting classes using the beautiful scenery as inspiration. Tuition can fund conservation.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: ALIVE & KICKING

PEOPLE ENJOY GOING TO CEMETERIES FOR LEISURE AND RECREATION.

INSIGHTS INSIGHT: ALIVE & KICKING

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ALIVE & KICKING: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is opportunity for cemeteries to evolve to support recreational activities.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we adapt the environment to support recreational activities?

How might we sponsor activities in the cemetery?

How might we engage groups in Savannah to utilize the site for activities?

How might we formalize activities that already occur regularly in the cemetery?

How might we facilitate a better experience for visitors?

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: ALIVE & KICKING

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ALIVE & KICKING: SUPPORT

They [cemeteries] were an important place for recreation.

The significance of the cemetery for me is the place where you bury the dead. But it’s like a park. People come here for picnics.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: ALIVE & KICKING

They are an important place for recreation.

Cemeteries provide solace and beauty for the living while honouring the dead.

And in Bonaventure and Greenwich, I’ve seen a lot of people jogging. It’s a great place to jog and walk. The road is beautiful.

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ALIVE & KICKING: CONCEPTS

A walking trail with colored boulder mile markers. People could walk or jog through the cemetery and know which route to take for a 1 mile, 3 mile, 5 mile trek.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: ALIVE & KICKING

A sponsored collaboration with furniture design students to create seating and furniture for the cemetery. This would create more visitor-friendly spaces as well as invest students in the cemetery.

A picnic area created from found materials. Use found materials like tree stumps or boulders to create seating that blends with the environment.

A themed bookstore. The bookstore would encourage people to use the cemetery as a place for learning and leisure.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: SPACE OUT

CEMETERIES CAN OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF SPACE THROUGH IMAGINATION AND INNOVATION.

INSIGHTS INSIGHT: SPACE OUT

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SPACE OUT: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is opportunity for cemeteries to get creative in practices and development to address changing trends and lack of space.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we adapt the remaining space to accommodate changing trends?

How might we use technology to address limited space?

How might we engage professionals to create innovative solutions to space issues?

How might we create burial offerings or services that use no space at all?

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: SPACE OUT

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SPACE OUT: SUPPORT

Single spaces. That’s probably our most common burial... After this year’s development, I’ve got about 7-8 years.

If we want to expand the vision of the economy and capitalize on cemeteries, we need to evolve how we view them.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: SPACE OUT

Long-term strategy is continued development.

I’m considering right now a mausoleum.

Because that lighthouse columbarium was not my project... A great project but business-wise I don’t know if it’s the best use of our resources.

If the cemeteries do not sustain a steady stream of new business, the will not have enough money to put aside for perpetual care or for daily upkeep.

INSIGHTS INSIGHT: SPACE OUT

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SPACE OUT: CONCEPTS

A tree service. Cemeteries could offer there centuries-old trees as ash-scattering ground for a fee and record the deceased as scattered in Bonaventure.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: SPACE OUT

An eternal pond. The cemetery could have a pond where rocks made from the ashes of loved ones create habitat for beautiful fish.

A contest for architectural innovation. Engage students and professionals in a contest to explore new ways of saving space in the cemetery.

Cremains scattering offering. The cemetery could build a beautiful pier out onto the water that could be used for ash-scattering services for a fee and record the deceased as scattered in Bonaventure.

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INSIGHT: NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN CEMETERIES ARE EXCELLENT TOOLS FOR LEARNING BECAUSE THEY HOLD PEOPLE, SCULPTURE, ARCHITECTURE, AND NATURE FROM THE PAST.

INSIGHTS INSIGHT: NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN

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NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN: OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

There is opportunity for cemeteries to become hubs of knowledge exchange.

HOW MIGHT WE...?

How might we create a platform for cemetery visitors to exchange knowledge?

How might we create opportunities for organizations to use the cemetery as an educational tool?

How might we encourage students and professionals to participate in preserving the history of the cemeteries?

How might we utilize technology to exchange knowledge across cemeteries?

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN

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NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN: SUPPORT

There is so much history. They tell a story. You can walk through the cemetery and look and the stones and recognize names on the markers that are so important to Savannah’s history, and the state of Georgia’s history, or even U.S. history.

It’s an educational tool. It’s a great place to learn about the history of Savannah. There is a story to be told in these cemeteries...

I’ve been in this department for about 6 years and I learn something new everyday.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN

You have all these structures in the cemetery. It’s an artifact. You have really beautiful works of art in here that you’re not going to find anywhere else.

I think high school and grad schools should be doing field trips. They should be educated and contribute.

I think the cemetery has, I don’t know if responsibility is the right word, but has a role in educating the public of the role of a cemetery.

INSIGHTS INSIGHT: NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN

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NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN: CONCEPTS

An app for gaining knowledge. Follow the map and point and click this app around the cemetery.

It will show you the history of the cemetery and significant grave sites.

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INSIGHTS INSIGHT: NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN

A cemetery quiz game. Test your knowledge about the cemetery and receive hints to learn more. There is something new to learn every day.

A student research project partnership. The cemetery partners with local schools to conduct research projects and build up the recorded history of the cemetery while creating investment among the students.

An interactive website. Explore the cemeteries in a virtual space. Watch video, explore maps, and learn about the history of the cemetery.

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