High Point, North Carolina

Leaving Oakwood Municipal Cemetery:  Oh no you're not. . .
Oakwood Municipal Cemetery.  [2013]

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Zoning Out ~ Review of the Model:  Remember: The character of the land use zone derives in part from the character of its edges. Here, one edge poses a question to which most would answer: 'not that tired, thank you.' Now, it's your job to identify the other three components of the cemetery's landscape: the burial zones, the grave markers, and the contiguous zones. Crestview Cemetery. [2012]

Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

Zoning Out ~ Review of the Model:  Land use zones devoted to burial have lifespans that go on forever, even after they close to new interments. In Selinsgrove's historic cemetery, local pride is focused on one recently-restored grave marker, with four American flags in the contiguous zone. It honors the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Simon Snyder.  He was the state's chief executive during the War of 1812: two hundred years ago exactly. This was his home town and his burial place. Other stones, shaky from the passage of time, have been laid down flat almost as if they are bowing to honor the town's favorite son. Sharon Lutheran Church Cemetery. [2013]

Orange, Massachusetts

Zoning Out ~ Review of the Model:  Visitors comes face to face with the departed by virtue of the color photographs on the grave marker. They also come face to face with grief by virtue of the contiguous zone. One partner is gone: gone before his time. A decade-and-a-half after death, tears still flow. And, two-together on the swing is a distant memory. South Cemetery. [2009]

Maysville, Kentucky

Zoning Out ~ Review of the Model:  The burial zone is out of sight. What we know about George and Daisy is what we see on the grave marker. Attached to their pet, they seem to have been: a huntin' dog according to the symbolism of the powder horn. In this bas relief, though, the posture suggests a hound that has put his hunting days behind him. Although he is still alert, it's time to rest. He dominates the design and takes center stage on the marker. He must have taken center stage in their lives as well. Maysville-Mason County Cemetery. [2013]

Summerville, South Carolina

Zoning Out ~ Review of the Model:  Analysis begins with disaggregating the individual elements that make up a whole. A cemetery's elements number four: (1) the burial zone, (2) the grave marker, (3) the contiguous zone, and (4) the land use zone. Look at (or imagine) each one of them individually, make your observations, then move on. The next step is synthesis: How do the individual elements relate to each other and to the world around them? Which one of the four elements is illustrated here? And, are there more refreshments coming? Summerville Cemetery. [2012]

Lewisburg, West Virginia

Zoning Out ~ The Land Use Zone:  Like every other type of land use zone, cemeteries evoke a sense of place.  How you sense a cemetery, however, is conditioned by many factors, one of which is what you see along its edges:  a commercial strip, perhaps.  Another is what you see within its boundaries.  Do you see a pair of eyes looking back at you?  Rosewood Cemetery.  [2012]

 

Kingman, Arizona

Zoning Out ~ The Land Use Zone:  The land use zone of eastern cemeteries is usually green. The land use zone of western cemeteries is often (but not always!) brown. Were it not for the cedars, evergreen symbols of everlasting life, the landscape would be as dead the people buried here. As for the name: From underground, there's not much of a view at all. Mountain View Cemetery. [2010]

Albany, Vermont

Zoning Out ~ The Land Use Zone:  The land use zone is the acreage set aside for disposal of the dead.  In the case of family cemeteries, their landscape architecture evolves organically; they grow as people die. Cemeteries as land use zones add yet another layer of names to the cultural landscape. The names of family cemeteries echo the clannishness of generations past; the last internment here was in 1943. With a name like Hovey Cemetery, you can anticipate at least one of the names that will appear on these hilltop headstones in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Hovey Cemetery. [2009]

Hagerstown, Maryland

Zoning Out ~ The Contiguous Zone:  The contiguous zone is like a blank book. It provides some space to tell 'the rest of the story,' a story that begins on the grave marker. Clever survivors know exactly what to do with that space. From the grave marker here, we know that skateboarding was part of his identity. From the contiguous zone, we surmise that his true love was caving (undergirded by the valley's limestone). If you come to visit, remember: Bat Parking Only. Rest Haven Cemetery. [2012]

Petersburg, Virginia

Zoning Out ~ The Contiguous Zone:  On Jewish graves, stones are the most common elements of memorialization in the contiguous zone. Stones vs. flowers: Which one is more symbolic of eternity? Which one withers and dies? Embodied in a single stone placed on the grave is a prayer that God embrace just one more soul. The beauty of the stones is in the simplicity of their symbolism, not in their glitz. Brith Achim Cemetery. [2013]

 

Durango, Colorado

Zoning Out ~ The Contiguous Zone:  The contiguous zone is a three-dimensional space coterminous with the burial zone and the grave marker. It is devoted to memorializing ephemera, most often flowers (new burials) or their synthetic counterparts (old burials). Crosses for Christians and flags for patriots are also common components of the space. Whatever is there continues the story that begins on the grave marker itself. Greenmount Cemetery. [2013]

Federalsburg, Maryland

Zoning Out ~ The Grave Marker:  Here's a case where the burial zone and the grave marker are wrapped up in one. It's called a mausoleum or vault (and there are other names, too). The gate appears as a front door and the black panel on the side suggests a window.  When you look inside the vault through that window though, you look outside instead. There, you find the deceased riding his cycle for eternity. Once again, a memorial gives us more than names and dates; it gives us a glimpse of the person and the times. Hill Crest Cemetery. [2013]

London, Ontario

Zoning Out ~ The Grave Marker:  Grave markers are either two-dimensional (flat markers) or three-dimensional (some variant of the one here). Our lives, however, are four-dimensional; they extend over time. Really, though, our lives are n-dimensional, and time is spent upping the value of the n. Then, an entire life must be reduced to a set of symbols that can capture only a few of those dimensions. Mount Pleasant Cemetery. [2013]

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Zoning Out ~ The Grave Marker:  Grave markers convey a message of permanence. They are usually made of granite, marble, or bronze, occasionally in combination, which is the case here. Their inscriptions record information about the person whose remains are out of sight in the burial zone. At a minimum, it contains the name of the deceased plus years of birth and death. This is a flat marker. Southern Palms Memorial Gardens. [2012]