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In 2005 Ingo Niermann and Jens Thiel begin discussing the idea that would eventually become The Great Pyramid, a place where every death, properly registered, could be commemorated. The Great Pyramid could, according to Niermann, “outlast all other above-ground monuments.” Theoretically the pyramid would be built brick by brick, each brick corresponding to an individual upon their death. Past deaths could also be memorialized as a brick. As originally conceived, the pyramid would be built out as necessary, always maintaining its pyramidal form, and would only reach its maximum practical height (300m) at some point in the future, accommodating over 41 million memorials. To account for regional preference, they also proposed satellite pyramids around the world. Their plan became increasingly pragmatic, settling on an economically depressed region in former East Germany, Anhalt-Dessau, near the village of Streetz. By 2006 their plans had earned them 90k Euros from the Federal Cultural Foundation of Germany. Their book, Solution 9 The Great Pyramid (2008), included a section on reactions from around the world. Florian Rötzer called it the “democratization of the final narcissism.” They turned to five preeminent architectural firms for designs, four of which submitted. In early 2008, the jury, including Niermann, Rem Koolhaas and Miuccia Prada, evaluated the four proposals but did not pick a winner. Soon thereafter they had received over 1000 reservations for the pyramid. According to their website, the project faltered but reemerged again in 2009. It appears to have stalled again. [AFC]