The Grotto

Our project for HDTS is a modular structure made of ephemeral materials that would span part of the existing rock outcropping on lot 10/site #2, forming two small grotto rooms. The structural system is being developed for the specific features of the landscape, and the grotto rooms will nestle into two naturally occurring crevasses. The grottos will comprise small pools surrounded by existing rock seats, providing shade, cooler temperatures, mist and hopefully, running water. We hope to create an unnatural oasis, bringing water to the desert in a generous, if quixotic, gesture. The challenge of designing such an unsustainable structure in such an inhospitable environment will hopefully help us amass a vocabulary of forms and processes for future work, and is based on our assumption that living in such water-based environments would be both possible and therapeutic.