Down the rabbit hole – Earth Home Design Challenge

Down the rabbit hole – Earth Home Design Challenge

Fantasy worlds
Fantasy is an artful ingredient in our lives. It is not just an escape but has the potential of becoming a way of understanding reality by looking at it through an inverted lens. Many stories have been born of fantasy, its essence synchronized with realism in a metaphysical sense.

Alice in Wonderland is one such fantasy that is immemorial. It is a fictional narration that tells a story of a concealed cavern underground, with an eccentric setting and playful characters. A girl falls through a rabbit hole and finds herself charmed by this whimsical world of enchantment.

Her journey of discovering herself is captivated by her movement through wonderland. The notion of the existence of a captivating world with endless possibilities is the soul of the story. The story encourages one to look beyond perceived limitations and pursue new, uncharted territories.

Can we create such a unique wonderland experience for people in the real world?

Living within the earth

Humankind in the early ages, negotiated with nature, living in harmony. With progress, we were enabled to exert power over our surroundings and mold it to our benefit. Our constructions are a testament to this as we create higher structures every day that dominate our cities.

But as we find our way back to unadulterated nature in current times, our will to practice existence in harmony has returned. The natural environment and resources around us have much potential in their raw, undisturbed form.

The ground is the base of built fabric in our cities. As construction on land is common, the underground terrain is yet to be explored to its full potential. The earth in itself is capable of sheltering people in one or more ways.

Placing our services underground is a common practice, but habitable spaces for a living can also be built into the site that blends seamlessly with the natural lay of the land it is built on. With minimal interventions, one can carve out a place while maintaining the integrity of the land.