Composting layers

堆肥层

Functionally, the Urban Death Project isless like a spa and more like a farm. Composting large bodies has been donebefore – those bodies just haven’t been human. There’s a lot of researchandexperience among cattle ranchers and farmers for composting the bodies of theirlarge farm animals, and it’s work that Spade was able to look at when designingher system. People might baulk at the idea of using mechanisms designed forcattle carcasses on humans, but it’s a system that is well understood andtested. And Spade’s design for the Urban Death Project is certainly a bit more refinedthan your average livestock composting heap.

在功能上，“城市逝者计划”更像是一个温泉，一个农场。分解大型遗体的项目之前有人做过，但是这些并不是人类的尸体。有大量关于分解大型农场动物的尸体的研究和经验，以供斯佩德在设计自己的系统时参考。人们可能会拒绝使用专为牲畜的分解尸体的办法，但这已经是广为人知并实验成熟的办法。斯佩德的设计的“城市逝者计划”一定要比平时牲畜堆肥更加精细。

The Urban Death Project system would behoused in a three-storey building, with the composting segment divided intothree main regions. The top layer consists of a bed of sawdust and wood chips.It’s where the body is laid during the ceremony, and where friends and familycan gather. Because the body is meant to compost, it isn’t treatedwith any of the embalming fluids or chemicals that a body intended for burialmight be.

“城市逝者计划”系统分为三层，堆肥段分为三个主要区域。顶层由一层木屑和木片组成，在哀悼仪式进行时，遗体将被放置在这里，朋友和家人可以在周围聚集。逝者遗体不会像进行土葬那样使用防腐液或化学物质，以便之后进行分解处理。

Beneath the top layer is a set ofcomposting bays, and each body eventually settles down into one as it slowlydegrades. This decomposition region is the largest part of the setup. Theprocess is collective and continual: as older bodies descend into the core, newbodies are added on top. At the bottom is a layer for screening and sorting,sifting out whatever might have descended all the way to the bottom, andharvesting the rich compost that the bodies have generated. It would take a fewmonths for each body to find its way there, into the finished compost, and, asthe Urban Death Project website says, “This compost is sacred, both its pastand its potential.” Family members and friends are encouraged to take some ofthis sacred compost with them, to use in their own gardens. What is left willbe used in city parks. “In this way, the dead are folded back into the fabric of the city,”the websitesays.

顶层下面是一组堆肥槽，随着遗体不断降解，最终落入对应的堆肥槽里。这个分解装置是整个系统中最大的一部分。在这里遗体将统一进行分解，过程持续不断：当时间较长的遗体不断分解完成，新的遗体被放置上上面。底部是筛选和分类，筛除已经分解到底部的物质，获取遗体产生的堆肥。此过程要经历数月，才能完成堆肥。“城市逝者计划”网站说，“这样产生的堆肥，无论从他的过程还是潜在含义，都是神圣的。”该计划鼓励家庭成员和朋友带走一些神圣的堆肥，用在自己的花园里。剩余的堆肥将使用在城市公园里，“这样，逝者重新成为了城市的一部分，”网站说。

The idea of your body being compostedalongside others might not sit well with some. But Seidel doesn’t mind the ideaof being without a single, specific tombstone or urn. After all, she says, whatultimately is the point? “So somebody can say, ‘There’s Grace! She’s stillliving, I mean she’s dead, but there she is!’” she says. “We commingle withother human beings and animals our whole lives, we share everything. I hopepeople remember me by photos, by things I’ve said, by books I’ve written, Ihope that’s how people will remember me, not by a pile of ashes or a pile ofdirt, but by good memories –because that’s the only way we can live forever.”

想到自己的身体将要和别人的一起进行分解，可能有些人会感到不适。但是赛德尔不介意没有一个专属的墓碑或骨灰盒。毕竟，她说，到底什么才是重要的呢？“有人说，格蕾丝在这！她还活着，我是说她已经死了，但她埋在这里！她说。“在我们的一生中，我们与其他人和动物接触交往。我希望人们记得我的照片，我说过的话，我写的书，而不是一堆灰烬或一捧尘埃，我希望人们想到我会想起这些美好的回忆，因为这是我们唯一得以永生的方式。”

The system is designed to be able to take alarge number of bodies, but Spade is planning on limiting it to two a day –giving enough time for a ceremony in the morning and one in the evening.“Putting more than that seems to be pushing it and there’s no reason to dothat.”

该系统设计处理大量的遗体，但斯佩德计划限制在一天两个的规模，这样上午和晚上都可以有足够的时间安排哀悼仪式。“安排更多会形成压力，我们没有理由这样做。”

Because, really, the Urban Death Projectisn’t just a system for the disposal of bodies. Spade wanted to design a placewhere people could have funerals, and celebrate the lives of those they havelost. “People like to create and tweak their own rituals,” she says, “so I lovethe idea that we could create a framework for ritual that isn’t set instone, but gives someone a space for ritual.”

因为事实上，“城市逝者计划”并不仅仅是一个用于处理尸体的系统。斯佩德是在设计一个人们举行葬礼，缅怀逝者的地方。“人们喜欢创造和调整自己的仪式，”她说，“所以我们可以建立一个仪式的框架，不是篆刻在石碑上的，而是一个举行仪式的空间，我喜欢这样的想法。

And when it comes to convincing people thatcomposting is a legitimate option, both Spade and Seidel say that it hasn’tbeen as hard as you might think. Seidel doesn’t have any children to convinceof her decision to have her body composted, but she says that everyone she’stalked to about it has ultimately accepted the idea. Even her best friend – whowas initially surprised by Seidel’s plan – has accepted her decisions. When theday of Seidel’s funeral arrives, her loved ones will be part of a very natural –andpersonal –send off.

据斯佩德和赛德尔所说，说服人们相信堆肥法是一个合法的做法并没有想象的那么难。赛德尔没有孩子说服她采用堆肥法，但每一个谈到此事的人最终都接受她的这个观点，包括她最好的朋友——起初对她的想法感到非常惊讶，最后接受了她的决定。因此当赛德尔葬礼那天到来的时候，她所爱的人将为她进行一个非常自然的——私人的——送别仪式。