ABSTRACT
When society wants to keep aspects of social life hidden, sealed architectural partitions are the easiest means to use. Some societies hide the affective life or sexual life of individuals or of some communities in peripheral neighbourhoods and/or behind walls and closed doors. Other societies, like Ancient Greece, accepted the expression of affective or sexual life in public space (even if only for (male) citizens). Ancient Greece accepted more generally what I call “Stygian” aspects of social life, when they are part of a balanced politics of emotional social life, in a society where such balance is possible. They are connected to everyday public space while distinct from it. A contemporary exception for the presence and expression of gay sexuality in society is exemplified by a former gay sex club in Sydney.
In Ancient Greece, funerals and death-related practices were also part of social life. Today, most Western societies tend to deny death, and death-related practice is usually enclosed behind sealed walls. This chapter shows an example of a funeral parlour in Mexico designed by Tatiana Bilbao. Mexican culture, though under Christian influence, does not deny death. Bilbao’s response to this expression of death in society is Threshold Architecture.
