in praise of limestone
unfinished
The project is aimed at investigating circulation, beginning at point A — a portal — and concluding at point Z, the landing: an underground river.
At its core, the project is a portal that resists a heavy surface presence, choosing instead to hide its mass beneath shifting layers of sand. The primary concern is circulation: the way one arrives, or in this case lands, at the project’s highlight — an underground river. This river, synthetic yet evocative of the natural, is a space where nature is duplicated and controlled, an environment entirely artificial but not immediately perceived as such.
The investigation centers on a circular ramp. Rather than descending directly, the ramp shifts direction, dipping down only to rise again before turning downward once more. This ramp partially acts as a corridor — a typology often associated with monotony or banality in architecture. Here, however, the corridor is challenged. Subtle shifts in slope and rhythm begin to disrupt its predictability. Sudden upward movements fracture the linear journey. The corridor narrows, directing the body forward, while dramatic transitions between daylight and darkness heighten the experience.
Eventually, this sequence opens into the first architectural space — circular in form, its ground surface carrying a double curvature. The uneven terrain reminds the body that it was not destined to move only across flat, orthogonal floors, but across a diversity of surfaces. From this space, one moves into others, each with minimal openings, emphasizing mass over view, enclosure over exposure. The body becomes acutely aware of its immediate inhabitation, isolated in winding passages, then gathered again in openings where curvature broadens into places for rest and seating.
The spaces are not equally wide; instead, their width ebbs and flows with the curvature of the ground. Walls lean inward, pressing close, inhabiting the body rather than merely enclosing it. Sightlines are indirect, offering only glimpses of what might lie ahead or behind, never direct access. The senses are called upon to navigate — the sound of water from below, the scent of vegetation carried through stone, the cool touch of air. Together these impressions construct a counterpoint to the desert’s aridity, giving the structure an inverted oasis quality.
The journey is drawn out to its maximum, stretching the act of arrival into prolonged exploration. The intention is to cultivate passive discovery, creating an architecture for the body to dwell within before the eye reveals what is being seen.
the portal approach
Top view of the portal configuration, with the ramp represented in a darker grey tone. At this stage, the space remains open to the sky and filled with sunlight, before shifting dramatically into total darkness. This transition invites the senses to seek orientation, guided gradually by the growing sound of flowing water.
Project volumes emerge, while the underground river is represented through a digital geometric instance, infused with deep green. The first mass wall, partially hidden, illustrates the configuration of the initial space that the ramp leads to.
under ground masses configuration
first layer of circulation system
Section cut showing the different ramp configurations and the overlapping spatial layers.
Partial section cut exploring the circular forms inhabited by the project.
Partial section cut showing the final space before the landing. This space is partially inhabited by the overlapping volumes above, resulting in a split condition that offers contrasting experiences — spaces of isolation and spaces of gathering. The division is created not by additional walls, but by the intrusion of the previous masses, producing areas that are at once open to view and, as the body moves through them, closed and intimate.
first space partial section cut