in the development of the ‘house inside a rock,’ amey kandalgaonkar took influence from the rock-cut tomb architecture of saudi arabia’s madain saleh. this ancient archaeological site expresses classical facades carved into a mass of sandstone, rationalizing the organic geometry. the shanghai-based architect develops a more contemporary reading through an investigation of this subtractive method, introducing a second material to cut through the original rock. rather than through a flattening of the organic surface, the formal dichotomy is generated with the insertion of clean concrete slabs. the designer continues to develop fictional reinterpretations of historical precedents with his modernist pagoda.



all images by amey kandalgaonkar | @ameyzing_architect

shanghai-based architect amey kandalgaonkar elaborates: ‘considering the visual complexity of the rocks at madain saleh, it was imperative to use simple planes and cubes in order to achieve a visual balance. I started out creating the rock in 3D software which in itself was a sculpting process. later when inserting the house into this rock, I tried to keep its visual impact from eye level as minimum as possible and only when observed from a bird eye, the real extent of the intervention is revealed.‘