From a „mass grave for humanity“ the project has evolved into a proposition for an affordable, flexible and global network of grand, contemporary and efficient burial and memorial monuments, in the real world as well as online: The New Pyramids.

All the Pyramid structures grow from an increasing number of identically sized concrete ash containers and memorial stones. The self-similar geometrical form of an inside-out growing pyramid ensures, it will never look only half-finished and will easily adopt to any capacity and demand.

The ashes of a deceased will be buried in an urn capsule, which is then enclosed in a concrete receptacle. Memorial stone capsules on the other hand may contain remembrances of any kind. All stones can be custom-designed to suit any individual color, image or relief preferences.

The Great Pyramid & Park
The Great Pyramid is the core of the network we propose. Technically it is identical to all the other New Pyramids. It will however become the largest of the structures, since for any stone set anywhere in any Pyramid, there will be a mirror stone set in the Great Pyramid.

Around the Great Pyramid new building infrastructures and park-like landscapes will evolve that serve visitors who take part in ceremonies, want to pay tribute to those who have a stone in the structure, or just want to see the impressive site out of curiosity.

Where that new Great Pyramid will be located is not yet fully defined. In 2007 the Friends of the Great Pyramid e.V. had piloted the idea in the Geman city of Dessau near Berlin, where it would complement a globally unsurpassed density of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and could help reviving the fledging regional economy and tourism. After a few initial doubts and miscommunications, we now think Dessau-Anhalt with her world-renowned traditions of the Bauhaus and Christian reformation may indeed be a very suitable location.

The World Pyramids
Even in a increasingly globalized world, it is hardly reasonable to assume, a significant number of e.g. Japanese, Americans, Russians etc. would desire burial in a far remote country, be it in Germany or anywhere else. To erect a massive structure with no actual graves in it, but just consisting of symbolic memorial stones, would be a reckless waste of resources in turn. That structure would rather become a monument for collective megalomania than a peaceful symbol for humankind.

Therefore, we will enable cities, religious bodies, cemetery operators, other organizations, and even individuals to set up their own local or regional Pyramid. All these Pyramids – or even a single tombstone in a private garden – will be closely integrated in the Great Pyramid network however: For any stone set anywhere a matching mirror stone will be set in the core Great Pyramid. Thus everybody to whom a stone had been dedicated, becomes part of this growing pixelwall of humanity which shall outlast millennia.

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Image: Conceptual rendering of the Great Pyramid in a rural setting. Copyright René Eisfeld & Jens Thiel, all rights reserved.