A Final Resting Place in An Artistically Designed Coffin
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars. Not available yet in the U.S.
After burying his design-conscious father in an unstylish brass-handled box, Andreas Spiegel was inspired to redesign the time-honored casket. The result is a innovative reinterpretation of the basic traditional coffin. Spiegel succeeded in creating a sleek, stylish, futuristic oval cocoon (coffin) that combines artistic design with functional simplicity in a redesign that is also biodegradable.
The Buzz on this An Award Winning Design
The Uono Cocoon is the only offering of the German startup Uono. The company was launched in Spring 2005 with a business plan to convince people to buy the cocoon before they get to the funeral home using their advanced booking plan.Designer Andreas Spiegel is hoping that the sleek fashionable design, the customizable color choices, the handmade processing and the attention to environmental protection will convince people to buy this new alternative to the traditional coffin.
Award Winning Design
The unique design, innovation, attention to detail and holistic approach has not gone unnoticed. The Uono Cocoon Coffin was the 2006 Grand Prize winner of the Bottom Line Design Awards selected by Business 2.0 and Frog Design.
When selecting winners of the Bottom Line Design Awards, the jurors look beyond the surface to take a more holistic approach. Jurors use 10 categories to rate each product including design aesthetic, user experience, brand strategy, sustainability, innovation, risk taking, corporate strategy, business impact, cultural impact, and the element of surprise.
Ecologically Constructed and Compatible for Cremation
(This second image shows the open view of the Cocoon.)
Ecological Construction
The company is concerned about environment protection and renewable resources, so has created the Cocoon to appeal to the ecologically-minded consumer. One of the jurors commented that the Cocoon would appeal to the people who shop at whole food stores.
The Cocoon has been manufactured of specially-developed renewable primary resources, an inexpensive plant fiber called jute, and is coated with a water-based varnish. Consumers can chose between natural ropes or stainless steel for handles. The entire coffin is biodegradable within 10-15 years.
Cremation Compatible
For those who are not interested in a traditional burial, the Uono coffin can also be used for those planning on a cremation. The heating value of the natural materials used to create the cocoon is similar to that of wood, making this alternative coffin appropriate for the cremation process.
Inspired By Nature and Available in A Wide Choice of Colors
Symbolism in Design
This unique organic design seems more like a modern sculpture to display than a casket for burial or cremation. Andreas Spiegel's design choice was inspired by nature. He chose a caterpillar's cocoon as a model to redesign the time-honored, basic coffin. A cocoon is the home of the caterpillar as it goes through the transformation process or metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. According to the creator, Spiegel the design symbolizes "a feeling of security and care as well as the crossing to something transcendental" and Designspotter described the design as symbolizing "the passage to something new," and was "the perfect shelter." Thus this perfect shelter would be home to those on their transformation journey.
A Choice of Colors
Customers can select from 14 colors to make the cocoon choice unique plus, if 14 colors do not provide enough of a choice, individual colors are available as part of their Haute Couture Service.
Current colors include: Pure White, Pigeon Blue, Cobalt Blue, Steel Blue, Purple Violet, Wine Red, Black Red, Fir Green, Bottle Green, Brown Green, Grey Brown, Chocolate Brown, Black Brown, and Jet Black
I would have a hard time choosing between Purple Violet or Fir Green.
Price, Pre-Planning, U.S. Debut and Ordering
Price
The price for this unique design is listed at $3500.
Pre-Payment Option
The Uono company provides a advanced booking plan. This plan allow customers to choose and pay for their cocoon now and be buried in it decades later.
U.S. Debut
Spiegel plans to introduce the Uono Cocoon in the United States by the end of 2006.
Ordering Information
The Uono Cocoons can be delivered to foreign countries. Deliveries to foreign countries take longer and depend on the country.
