Yaravi

Death and humans? response to it have long held the power to bind cultures together and create places that transcend time and custom. Our collective respect for the dead and where they are laid to rest reaches across cultures like few other human experiences. It is the commonality of this reverence that guides the creation of Yaravi, a necropolis at the center of the Dead Sea.

Yaravi is a place where any person regardless of nationality, race, religion, age or affluence can be laid to rest. By choosing this site as a final resting place, any citizen of the world can contribute to a growing monument to tolerance, reconciliation and unity.

Families will bid farewell to their loved ones from a dock at the southern banks of the Dead Sea. From there, the dead, accompanied by a few mourners, will be transported to Yaravi by boat. The boat enters the necropolis at its base and travels through a ceremonial unicursal labyrinth that leads to the center point of the necropolis, where the dead are lifted to the space above. The accompanying mourners will also enter the necropolis this one time -during the interment of their loved ones. The necropolis is a parabolic structure of concentric rings supported on a raft-like armature below the water line, which allows it to float in the buoyant salty waters of the Dead Sea. Inside, the necropolis is a bowl shaped space open to the sky. Individual sarcophagi will progressively fill the stepped structure, laid out in a concentric configuration facing one another.

In the last few years, Austin based Mir? Rivera Architects (MRA) has emerged as one of the leading new architectural voices in the United States, quietly creating a body of work that exemplifies design excellence and that has been recognized nationally and internationally with numerous awards including 15 American Institute of Architects design awards and the 2006 AR Emerging Architecture Award in London.

At MRA, architecture is understood as an endeavor where the realms of ideas, aesthetics and technology intersect. Aware of the role of the architect as a citizen- thinker- artist- builder, MRA aspires in every project to create responsible architecture that responds to its natural or urban context, addresses basic human needs, is beautifully crafted and has longevity and presence.

Juan Mir?, born in Barcelona, obtained his professional degree at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Polit?cnica of Madrid. He earned a Fulbright Scholarship to complete a Master of Architecture at Yale University. Juan is an Associate Professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Texas at Austin.

Miguel Rivera, born in Puerto Rico, obtained his Bachelor's degree from the School of Architecture of the University of Puerto Rico. He earned his Master of Architecture from Columbia University in New York City. In 2005 Miguel was awarded the AIA National Young American Architect Award.