Facing the inevitable collapse of the planet’s ecosystem, a group of advanced thinking individuals have founded an alternative society: the Non-Proliferators see themselves as role models for global societal change of the future, in decreasing population to ecological capacities. With only few babies being born every twenty years, the aging process of the society is drastically accelerated and urges for new social constellations beyond our standard idea of families. This reduces time, responsibility and monetary investments for all individuals and allows the Non-Proliferators to use these human, financial and cultural resources for elderly care.

In order to establish planetary sustainability, they plan to reduce population in their enclave without active killing. They celebrate aging and dying as an active phase in life and a contribution to their purpose, which is why they live in a new time system called cycles. Periods of 20 years with a procreation-ban alternate with 3-year periods that allow few individuals for procreation to keep the society alive. For example, the first cycle is defined by shared parenthood of 20 parents bringing up one child.

The Playgrave

The Playgrave is the spatial manifestation of the Non- Proliferators’ innovative approach to dying and death: the Playgrave merges the ideas and functions of a playground with a graveyard . A recreational public space for all generations, that shifts the perception of death to being a joyful and tangible part of the everyday, rather than secluding it.

Gravestones are used as benches, underground family tombs are meeting spaces, and urns are stored in a climbing pyramid for children. The simultaneity of life and death, joy and commemoration intensifies the Non-Proliferators’ appreciation of death. The different structures within the playgrave reflect the complexity of the Non-Proliferators’ evolving social structures.

The Arnold's Arm

Games and toys have an important role shaping children’s behaviours, worldview, and social relationships. The Non-Proliferators utilize this concept to both familiarize children with a drastically aging society, and to sensitize them for their future responsibilities in taking care for the elderly. In the Non-Proliferators society, children get an Arnold’s Arm as a toy upon birth – it becomes their precious memento that accompanies them until they reach adulthood.

In the Non-Proliferators society, children get an Arnold’s Arm as a toy upon birth – it becomes their precious memento that accompanies them until they reach adulthood.The Arnold’s Arm evokes gestures of care and affection with its ergonomic design. It is made of different materials that imitate the touch of an old person’s physiognomy. The interaction with the elderly becomes playful and natural. At the end of the cycle, children eventually let go of their Arnold’s Arms in a big celebration. This toy normalizes a different perspective about death and the relationship to elderly.