I LOVE this project. 24-year-old Nadine Jarvis sought out to revamp [literally] the grieving process. Through design, of course. Her words:

"I have been designing urns that lengthen death ceremony to give more time to come to terms with loss. My motivation for this project was my interest in the death and decomposition of materials and how the degradation of materials could be used to aid the grieving process."

Check out this somewhat morbid piece here. A ceramic urn with a lifespan of 1-3 years. The thread gradually degrades causing the urn to drop, and smash as it hits the ground.