CALDERA

The weather is cold and the horizon shows a greyscale color palette as Mount Ararat stands high in her quiescent state. The barren and desolate landscape gives us the vibe of the history this place shares, the wrath of the rocks and lava of the past. 

The central concept behind the building was to incorporate specific technologies catering to the natural climatic and site conditions and taking full advantage of the natural elements around it, in other words getting inspired from natural elements to solve existing problems. The form takes the shape of a caldera volcano as it appears to sink down with the passage of time just like rocks tend to erode away in the sands of time. The initial ideas which came into our mind were things like, how will this building harmonize with the surroundings based on its looks? How must the building react to the natural elements around and make the best use of them? How will nature help us to solve existing constraints so that man-made systems seem to reduce? 

Elements were organized according to the needs and grounded as the function parameters demanded. Unobstructed views, visual and educational linkage, voids and breathing spaces, and leisure spaces at the end of every journey were kept in mind. The site had to be organized in such a way so as to make room for the building which stands dominant alone in the barrenness just like a Volcanic mount.

Almost ten iterations had to be made before we ended up with one which seemed to fit the context and that gave birth to the form factor of Caldera. 

The programs of concern or should we say, constraints included ventilation, thermal insulation, thoughtful material usage for energy efficiency, and methods to reduce material consumption thereby reducing wastage.

The soil gave us the chance to experiment with thermal insulation and structural stability at the same time whereas the roof allowed us to work with a concept of rainwater harvesting. The subterranean structure was aided with ductwork and heating systems which solved the ventilation issue of the project just the way termite mounds work. All these considerations came to work together in unison and make this building a machine with life.

Materials had to be chosen based on the site context both in terms of looks and function to solve the problems. Geopolymer concrete, ferrocement, pre-cast concrete, and Low-E glass are some of those materials that had to be implemented in order to achieve those solutions to those existing constraints.

The project's form and shape doesn't keep itself limited to the isolated caldera shape. As a part of the mountain form factor, it can range itself with further expansion in the adjacent site area which has been kept empty purposefully. 

As time passes every piece of architecture born out of the rocks shall erode away with the passage of time but as designers building something with the concepts incorporated by nature itself shall help to increase its life span as much as possible. So here stands Caldera, now in the present dominating the land waiting to welcome all of us.