An existing cemetery in an expanding suburban area of northwest San Antonio was the site for my undergraduate architecture thesis. Situated at the foot the of the Texas Hill Country, the location was selected for the design of a funeral home capable of 8-10 services per week and planned extension of the grave site. This building type was selected for its link to my thesis topic: the use of architecture to express an understanding of man's relationship within nature and the larger environment. In death, the physical composition of the once living organism returns to the realm of nature and the compositional matter of the universe. The place for this significant passage is the architectural expression. A funeral home is this place: for the dead, it is a literal transition; for the living, it is a symbolic expression for the understanding of this passage and the final stage of life.