Have you ever looked at a piece of furniture and thought, “I wish this furniture were multi-purpose?” Well wonder no longer, have your favorite book shelf follow you to the land of the dead with this Eco-Responsible furniture option.
Unfortunately we are living in times where death is on the rise and many are considering plans for their own end a lot earlier than they normally would. Crisis times or not, death can be expensive. Coffins and burials especially. This offers a functional as well as inexpensive option. You can literally keep and use your coffin for other purposes until it is time for burial.
Not everyone is thrilled to have a standing reminder of death, especially their own lingering in the home. But beside functionality, there are some who do like the morbid symbol of their future lingering. But we are not all part of the Addams family so this project has met mixed reviews.
“The wood will color, the surfaces will mark and stain, and over the years and the furniture will become a part of you. When you die, the shelves can be taken apart and reassembled as a coffin. The brass plate under the bottom shelf, that tells the story about this transformation, is then flipped over and your dates inscribed on it.”
Designer William Warren
“If you don’t think about it in advance, you’ll be buried or burnt in a chipboard box with paper that looks like wood and plastic handles that look like brass. Your grieving family will pay £400 for this £40 piece of rubbish because nobody argues with an undertaker. Better to have something you’ve made, something solid and something that has lived with you in life and has the stains and scars to prove it.”
William Warren
A little about the designer: Warren runs a furniture and product design consultancy, is a Senior Lecturer at London Metropolitan University, and also lectures at three other universities and colleges. He holds a personal design philosophy that centers on creating emotional connections with objects, shifting our thoughts towards how we interact with our belongings.
The designer William Warren will send you a free personal design if you send him your measurements. Check it out at williamwarren.co.uk
What do you think of this concept? Let us know in the comments!