Rethinking architecture for the dead: views from the world’s tallest cemetery

‘We live one above the other, we die one above the other – with a view.’

Located in the seaside city of Santos in Brazil, Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica is the world’s tallest cemetery, its sprawling 14 stories accommodating tens of thousands of bodies. Built in 1983, the structure will undergo an expansion to accommodate increasing demand for its repositories, crypts and mausoleums. Like surrounding real estate, the necropolis must grow ever higher to accommodate a growing urban population – and it charges a higher price for a final resting place with a view. A unique perspective on how death interacts with architecture, capitalism and class in the 21st century, A Tomb with a View premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in 2014.